Naruto -Rise of the Jiang-Shi
by Dylan Millwood
Summary: Adopted from Dustin-The-Grimm with his permission.
1. Chapter 1

Jiang-Shi – Pronounced "key-ong-she." A kind of Chinese vampire that feeds on the life essence of its victims. The appearance of a Jiang-Shi varies from that of an ordinary human that is indistinguishable from anyone else to something more around the guidelines of a zombie. Unlike traditional vampires, once a Jiang-Shi has absorbed enough essence, it becomes strong enough to become immune to even sunlight. One of the few ways to stop a Jiang-Shi is to place a tag talisman on its forehead and the Jiang-Shi will be paralyzed.

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AN: This story takes place a couple of weeks after Tsunade becomes Hokage, but before the Sasuke Retrieval Mission.

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Chapter 1: The Beginning

The sun was beginning to rise in the east as another day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves was about to begin. Many of the Shinobi that comprised the village's military were already up and about while the civilians were just starting their day.

Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were in the middle of prepping for the oncoming day.

"Almost ready, Ayame?" Teuchi asked his daughter as he put the finishing touches on the soup he was working on.

"Yeah. I just gotta go grab some stuff from outside and we'll be ready for business." The young cook said as she opened the side door. Ayame walked outside to grab a crate when she noticed something in the shadows of the alley behind the stand.

"Huh?" Ayame raised an eyebrow as she moved closer to get a better look. The shadows of the early morning were still thick, but Ayame could make out a humanoid shape. "Maybe a homeless person who decided to sleep here for the night or someone who had too much to drink last night." Ayame thought as she proceeded carefully. "Um, excuse me, sir? Are you alright?" She asked aloud, ready to back away or defend herself if need be. After all, you don't live in a ninja village without picking up a few moves, regardless if you were a ninja or a civilian.

Ayame didn't get an answer. The person, dressed in ninja garb typical of the Leaf Village and a green vest that meant that he was a Chunin or higher rank, was down on his side with his front facing the wall and his back to Ayame. There were also several flies buzzing around and Ayame could smell a faint rotting stench in the air

"Sir?" Ayame asked again as she shook the man on his shoulder and trying not to gag on the smell. The man moved, but it wasn't on his own. Instead, gravity did its work as the man was now flat on his back facing up. For a second, Ayame thought that was indeed dealing with a drunk, but once she got a better look him, the young cook felt her blood turn to ice and her eyes widen in horror.

The man's skin was deathly pale, almost as white as the cook's uniform Ayame wore, but there was an ashy undertone to it. The skin was also slightly withered. But what held the young woman's attention were two things. One was the expression of true fright on the ninja's face. The other was the horrible looking wound on the man's neck. It was as if some kind of wild animal pinned the ninja down and not only bit him in the neck, but tore the skin off as well. Ayame could see the neck muscles and part of his spine. The flies were buzzing around the wound, but the muscles looked dried up. Save for a small puddle of blood, the wound wasn't bleeding.

The scene was so horrific and surreal that for a moment, Ayame couldn't breathe. The young cook slowly backed away as the situation was starting to sink in for her. She did the only thing she could do at the moment

She screamed.

Teuchi heard the scream of terror coming from outside and immediately recognized it as his daughters. In a flash, the ramen chef was out the door just as Ayame ran into him. The young woman hugged her father tightly and started to weep uncontrollably.

"Ayame! Are you alright? What hap-?" The words died in Teuchi's mouth as he saw what his daughter saw…and suddenly felt himself getting sick.

By this time, several neighboring vendors and a few ninjas in the area came running at the sound of Ayame's scream and saw the scene before them.

"Summon the Medical Unit now!" One of the ninjas yelled. "And inform Lady Tsunade at once!"

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Tsunade Senju was a lot of things. The fifth Hokage, the Queen of Slugs, the Mistress of Elixirs, the mother of the Konaha Medical Corps, role model for all kunoichi everywhere and one of the Legendary Sannin. The woman was also legendary for several other things as she was also known for her heavy drinking habits and her compulsive gambling, which earned her the nickname, The Legendary Sucker.

However, there was one thing that Tsunade was NOT: a morning person. So when her two aides/errand boys, Izumo and Kotetsu burst into her office as she was nursing a hangover from drinking while attempting to conquer the mountain of paperwork on her desk, the well endowed blonde was in an understandably foul mood.

But when she saw the looks of urgency, as well as what she could identify as mild fear on the faces of the two Chunin, Tsunade was all business.

When she asked Izumo and Kotetsu what was wrong, all the two Chunin said was that there was a murder and she was needed at the hospital. Without any further questions, the blonde Hokage made her way to the hospital where her nurse greeted her.

"Skip the pleasantries." Tsunade growled to the nurse as she felt a massive headache coming on. "What's going on and where's Shizune?"

"She's in room 121, talking with Teuchi from Ichiraku Ramen. His daughter, Ayame, was the one who discovered the body and Shizune-sempai is trying to calm her down. This really shook her up." The nurse replied.

"And the body?" The hokage asked.

"In the morgue, ma'am." The nurse answered.

"Tell the Chief Examiner I'll be there shortly." Tsunade said as she made her way towards room 121.

A few moments of walking and the busty woman reached her destination. Inside were Teuchi, who looked more than a little nervous, but stayed strong for his daughter's sake, Tsunade's apprentice, Shizune, who was sitting in a chair, gently stroking the shaking hand of the pretty young ramen cook, Ayame.

Ayame's breathing was shallow and she had a look of pure fear in her eyes.

"Lady Tsunade." Teuchi said as he bowed respectfully to the woman, who returned the gesture. "Thank you for coming m'lady."

"Not a problem at all Teuchi-san." Tsunade said before turning her attention to the man's daughter.

"Okay Ayame." Shizune said to the girl. "I know it's going to be hard, but I need you to tell Lady Tsunade what you just told me. Are you up for that?" She got a small nod from the slightly younger girl as an answer.

Tsunade pulled up a chair and sat by the young ramen cook. After a few shaken breaths, Ayame started to talk. "Daddy and I were just doing our regular morning preparations. I stepped outside to get a crate of supplies…and that's…that's when I saw him." Her voice was starting to break a little, but the Slug Sannin placed and comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It's okay, Ayame." Tsunade reassured the girl. "You're doing great."

The girl nodded in thanks before continuing. "At first I thought it was a homeless man. We do get a few from time to time and my dad and I make some ramen for them. But then I saw that he was dressed as a ninja, so I thought that maybe he passed out from drinking. I also noticed a really bad smell in the air. It was real faint at first, but got worse as I got closer. There were also some flies buzzing around." Ayame drank a glass of water than Shizune offered her and took a few more deep breaths. Tsunade got a feeling that this was where the bad part happened.

"I shook him on the shoulder and asked if he was alright. He rolled onto his back and…and…that's when I realized, h-he was dead." Ayame said as tears were starting to roll down her face. Tsunade hugged the young woman as she started to cry.

"It's alright, child." Tsunade said in a motherly tone as she rubbed the poor girl's back. "You've told us more than enough to help us out. Thank you."

As the young cook continued to cry, Tsunade motioned Teuchi to take over. After Teuchi embraced his daughter, she started to calm down.

Tsunade then opened the door and beckoned the nurse she was with earlier over. "Find Inoichi and tell him to get over here at once." The nurse bowed and set off on her task. The Slug Sannin then turned back to the two ramen chefs. "Alright you two. Inoichi Yamanaka will be here shortly. He will help the both of you deal with this stress."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." Teuchi said sincerely while Ayame nodded and cracked a small smile of relief. Tsunade smiled back. She could certainly understand why the two were so shaken by this. Even among ninjas, the very first sight of a dead body can cause even the toughest Shinobi a great deal of unease. Hell, even with Tsunade's experience as a medic in her youth, seeing dead bodies wasn't necessarily something you got used to.

After setting Teuchi and Ayame's minds at ease, Tsunade and Shizune made their way to the morgue, where the body awaited.

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"No wonder the girl was so close to breaking out into hysterics." Tsunade said to herself as she saw the body laid out on a metal table in the morgue. The Slug Sannin had seen more than her fair share of death and the many ways someone could die. She had seen mutilated bodies before, but this, this was something that just felt wrong to her. On the way to the morgue, Shizune had informed her mistress that the initial photos that were taken by the Investigation Unit were on the way and the forensics unit were already getting to work at the scene.

"What a crappy way to start the day." Tsunade thought as she got a closer look at the disturbing wound on the man's neck. Putting on a pair of surgical gloves, Tsunade touched the exposed muscle. It had the same kind of texture of dried meat, meaning that this man had been drained of his blood, completely. Looking closely, the blonde noticed what appeared to be bite marks. Tsunade felt a low terror creep into her gut as she noticed that the bite mark pattern matched that of a human.

It was then that the fifth Hokage noticed smaller wounds on the man's face. One small cut on his right cheek and four more on the left side of his face that started at his cheek down to the left side of his jaw. "Fingernail marks from someone's right hand."

Just then, the Chief Examiner, a man named Tetsu, walked in. "Lady Tsunade, I just got done running a chakra scan on this man. I think you need to get a look at this."

Tetsu handed Tsunade the report. After looking though it for a moment, she looked back at the man. "There's nothing here."

"Exactly." Tetsu replied. He had a look of unease on his face. "Even corpses that have been dead for a month still have some chakra left in their system. Depending on the size of an individual's chakra reserves, it typically took anywhere from a month and a half to a year for chakra to completely dissipate in a Shinobi's cadaver. According to an initial report from Forensics, there was a small, but fresh puddle of blood underneath this man's wound when he was found, meaning that our friend here died within the past twelve hours."

"What are you trying to say, Tetsu?" Tsunade said, getting the feeling that she was not going to like what she was about to hear.

The Chief Examiner gulped before answering. "Unless it was all used up before he died, this man was not only drained of his blood, but his chakra as well."

Shizune saw her mistress' eyes narrow in thought.

"What are you thinking m'lady?" Shizune asked.

The busty blonde looked at her apprentice for a long minute. Right now, all kinds of theories were running through Tsunade's head.

And not a single one of them was pleasant.

"For right now, I can't be sure." Tsunade finally answered as she discarded her gloves and put them in the disposal bag. She then turned to Tetsu. "Tetsu, go ahead and get to work on the autopsy. Keep me posted if anything comes up."

"Yes, m'lady." Tetsu said as he began to gather the necessary tools.

Tsunade then beckoned Shizune to follow her, which the young brunette did.

As the two women were walking, Tsunade was lost in thought as her mind was going a mile a minute. "Shizune, when we get back, send word to Forensics. I want to know where they are at on this every second."

"Yes, m'lady." Shizune said, wondering what was going through the mind of her mistress.

Tsunade, meanwhile, was mentally preparing herself for the inevitable. She knew for a fact that it was not going to be very long at all before news of this incident hit the village grapevine, if it hasn't already. And Tsunade was willing to bet that it has.

"Just when things were finally starting to calm down from the Sand / Sound Invasion, something like this comes along and shoots it straight to hell." Tsunade mentally groaned. "Shit like this is precisely why I drink."

She thought back to what Tetsu told her, as well as her own observations of the body. "A cannibal, perhaps?" It was a plausible theory. Tsunade was a woman of the world and she had been alive long enough to see some truly disturbing things. Cannibalism wasn't too far-fetched, but the thought that one or more of those types of sickos running loose in her village sent a shiver down her spine.

But the more she thought about it, the less it made sense. If it was a cannibal or a pack of them, wouldn't they've chowed down on the poor guy completely instead of giving him the ultimate hickey? Plus, the victim was drained of his blood completely. The puddle of blood that Tetsu told her about could only mean that the act happened in that alley beside Ichiraku's.

"But to drain a fully grown human of almost every drop of blood would've taken hours, wouldn't it? And then there's the part about his chakra. That part doesn't make any sense at all. One of the night guards would've had to have sensed this guy…unless, he chakra was forcibly drained out of him somehow." Tsunade thought as she clutched her throbbing head. The effects of her hangover returning. "God I hate having to think during a hangover and so damned early in the morning."

As the Slug Sannin and her apprentice exited the hospital and made their way back to the Hokage building, the busty blonde noticed something out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but stare.

It was a movie theater that seemed to run nothing but hentai flicks that were based on the books her perverted ex-teammate, Jiraiya, wrote or horror movies. What had Tsunade's attention was one of the coming soon posters depicted a demonic looking vampire.

"I don't know about the chakra, but the draining of blood without anyone noticing and the bite marks made by a human. Most of the damage appeared to be done by the canine teeth."

But before she could get further down that line of thought, Tsunade shook her head. "Oh please Tsunade. You're how old now? I believe we outgrew our imagination quite a long time ago." The blonde woman's mind snapped.

"Lady Tsunade, are you alright?" Shizune asked, a little worried that her teacher zoned out like that.

"I'm fine Shizune." Tsunade said as she took one more look at the movie poster. "Just fine." She then looked to the younger woman. "Let's go Shizune. I have a bad feeling that today is going to be a very long day."

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"Ugh. It's not even 8:30 in the morning and already I need a drink." Tsunade groaned as she sat in her office chair.

Just as the busty woman had suspected, by the time she and Shizune reached the Hokage Building, news of the murder must have been in full swing as there was a mob of civilians gathered out in front of the building. The Shinobi guards managed to clear a path for their leader, but not before Tsunade tried to calm the people down.

"Everyone, please calm down!" Tsunade raised her voice so it could be heard. "Now before anyone asks, we don't know what's happening here or who could have done such a horrible thing. But we will find the party responsible for this, I promise. For now, all that I can ask is that you all return to your businesses and let us handle this."

After getting past the mob, Tsunade and Shizune made it to the Hokage's office. Tsunade looked longingly at the stacks of paperwork, which suddenly looked very appealing. Over in the corner, Tsunade's pet pig, Ton-ton, woke up from her sleeping basket and walked over to her mistress, who picked her up and sat the creature in her lap. "I tell you Shizune, there are days I wonder why I took this job."

Shizune looked out the window. Most of the mob had left, but there were still some others around. "I got a bad feeling that mob was just the first of many."

"Well, can you blame them? They're scared. At least with the Ninetails and the Sand and Sound ninjas, the people knew who or what was responsible. This? Until we get more information, we're basically flying blind." The Slug Sannin said as she pet Ton-ton.

After a long five minutes of silence, Tsunade spoke. "Shizune, call any and all available Jonin here at once. And if he's up and about, make sure Kakashi knows that if he is so much as a second late, then there's a demotion in his immediate future."

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Training Ground 7 – At the same time

Sakura Haruno sat down on the grass under the shade of a tree as she waited on her teammate and her sensei for their daily training and missions. Just as she was starting to think of her precious Sasuke, who was still holed up in the hospital thanks to his brother, she heard footsteps that were rapidly getting closer.

The pink-haired girl looked over to see that it was her other teammate, Naruto Uzumaki, was running up to her. "And cue his little cry of 'Saakuuraa." Sakura thought.

However, the pinkette was mildly surprised when Naruto didn't call her name out. She also noticed a rather serious look on his face. It was then she knew something was up.

The orange clad young man stopped in front of the girl and was panting for breath. "Sakura. Good, you're here." Naruto said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sakura replied. "Are you alright, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto said as he finally caught his breath. "Have you heard the latest?"

"On Sasuke? Is he finally out of the hospital?" Sakura asked with a tone of hope in her voice.

Naruto had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Should I really be shocked that she's got emo on the brain?" The blonde thought to himself. "So you haven't heard."

"About what?" Sakura asked. "Naruto, what's going on?"

"The murder by Ichiraku's this morning." Naruto replied.

"A murder?" Sakura's green eyes widened as all thoughts of the Uchiha were put on the backburner. Despite the fact that she was a fan girl, she knew there was a time to have Sasuke on her mind and a time to be serious.

"Yeah. I was on my way to Ichiraku's for breakfast when I heard this loud scream that sounded like Ayame." Naruto explained what he had heard. "By the time I got there, a crowd had gathered around the place. I didn't really get a good look because the ninjas there had blocked the area off, but someone in the crowd told me that Ayame found a dead body in the alley by the stand."

Sakura felt her blood cool down some as Naruto told his story. A part of her almost wishing that this was one of his pranks, but the look on his face told her that he was dead serious for a change. Under normal circumstances, a dead body would be no big deal. But when it was within a hidden village, it meant that trouble was on the horizon.

'An assassin, a ninja gone rogue. Maybe one of Orochimaru's goons, or Sasuke's brother.' Sakura's mind started to process the information as she tried to come up with a possible suspect. The pink haired girl was suddenly taken out of her thoughts when a new voice could be heard.

"So, I take it the both of you are up to speed on current events."

Sakura and Naruto looked up to see their jonin sensei, Kakashi Hatake, leaning against the tree Sakura was sitting under.

"HEY YOU"RE…on time?" The two young genin shouted at the same time before realizing that for once, their chronically tardy teacher was actually on time for their morning meeting.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms. Sakura also looked at the silver-haired man with mistrust.

"Granted, I deserve that." Kakashi said, giving his usual eye smile. "To be honest, as I was on my way over here, I came across a black cat. I was about to follow it to see if it would magically change into a beautiful woman."

As Naruto and Sakura groaned at yet another of Kakashi's infamous excuses, the two Genin noticed that the look on the jonin's face went from laid back to dead serious. "...But then the news of a murder and a possible killer on the loose made me want to come over here to see if my students were alright."

Naruto and Sakura both nodded. "Is there anything new, Kakashi-Sensei?" The blonde asked.

"No, not yet." Kakashi answered, "the higher ups are trying to keep a lid on this as much as possible. But I got a feeling that it's not going to be too long before mass panic starts to overtake the village. And the worst part is that some people still haven't gotten over dealing with the recent invasion from the Sand and the Sound Villages."

Before anyone else could say anything, the sound of a bird could be heard above the three Shinobi. Kakashi looked up to see that it was a messenger bird from the Hokage. 'Well that didn't take very long.' The former ANBU captain thought before turning back to his students. "All right you two, here's the plan for now. You two head back to your homes for now. If you have to go out, stick to public places. Once I figure out what Lady Tsunade wants, I'll call for the both of you."

Both genin nodded and left, while Kakashi began his trek to the Hokage Building.

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Hokage Building – Assembly hall

By the time all the jonin and council members had gathered, Tsunade had a detailed report from the Forensics and Investigation units. She looked over the gathered Shinobi and noted that Kakashi was actually on time for once. She also noticed several other notable jonin such as Asuma, Kurenai, Guy, Anko and others. There was also the regular members of the council as well the clan heads of the village that were present as well.

"As I'm sure most of you are aware, we have a rather serious problem on our hands." Tsunade spoke, gaining the attention of her subordinates. "Early this morning, a body was discovered in an alley beside Ichiraku Ramen by the daughter of Teuchi. Cause of death is still unknown, but there was a rather disturbing wound on his neck. Upon closer observation, there were bite marks that were apparently made by human jaws."

Tsunade could hear quiet conversations within the crowd as she continued, though she had to swallow back some bile before talking again. "Also of note, the body was almost completely drained of blood, save for a small puddle of blood that was still fresh when the body was found, meaning that this man died sometime in the past twelve to twenty four hours. When I examined the wound, the muscles were dried up." After that part, Tsunade could see some people get up out of their seats and bolt out of the room while holding their mouths. "But as gruesome as that is, the part that has me truly concerned is the fact that not only was the body drained of blood, but all of the man's chakra was drained as well."

"But how's that possible?" Hiashi Hyuga asked. "Surely someone would have sensed the chakra being drained."

"Like I said, that's the part that has me concerned the most. It's not just that someone managed to drain the chakra from a Chunin level ninja or higher, but the fact that it happened without even the ANBU Black Ops noticing not only has me concerned, it has me more than a little scared."

For a moment, no one spoke. If something was able to spook the Hokage, it wasn't good.

"What exactly are we dealing with here, Tsunade?" Homura questioned. The Hokage looked at her sensei's old teammate before answering.

"Until more information is gathered, we don't know. However we can't rule out a possible assassin that was sent by another village or a possible traitor from within the village. Or perhaps, our old friend, Orochimaru, is feeling a little bold and has sent one or more of his operatives to stir up trouble." Tsunade replied. The busty blonde noticed a look of pain on the face of Anko when she mentioned the Snake Sannin. "One thing that we do know is that there's a killer on the loose. One that can apparently strike undetected, even within the village. And with our strength still weakened from the recent invasion, it doesn't get much worse than this."

The conversations continued between most people in the room, while some others were lost in their own thoughts as the implications were sinking in.

"Therefore." Tsunade spoke again and silencing the chamber. "As a result, until further notice, I am implementing a strict curfew for civilians and non-essential personnel. No one will be allowed out in the streets after 10:00 PM with the exceptions of ANBU members and night guards. Jonin senseis, you are to inform your students of this . Also, all shinobi will be required to carry at least one weapon on their person at all times and lethal force is granted."

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Sometime later

The sun was rapidly beginning to set on the village of Konaha. Tenten Xiayu, the Weapons Mistress of the Leaf Village watched eagerly as the great flaming orb slowly began it's decent into the horizon. A wicked smile formed on her beautiful face as she got up from sitting on her bed and walked over to the door that led to the basement of her home.

Once down in the basement, Tenten put her hand on a brick, which was pressed back into the wall like a switch. A moment later, one of the walls in the basement slid away, revealing a flight of stairs going down.

The Weapons Mistress descended down the stone steps that had to have led at least a mile underground. Torches were lit on the walls, illuminating the path.

At the bottom of the stairs was a stone door made out of polished obsidian and adorned with two dragons made out of gold.

"Release." Tenten said as she made a handsign. A moment later, the grand looking door opened, revealing a decent sized room. Much like the stairs, this room's light was supplied by several torches on the walls. Sharing space with the torches were numerous kinds of weapons, ranging from regular kunai and shuriken to exotic looking swords and staffs all mounted on the walls.

But the most eye catching object in the room was a large coffin that was about the size of a king-sized bed. Like the door, the coffin was made of shiny obsidian and decorated with gold in the shapes of dragons, a phoenix and other mythical beasts.

"Time to wake up, my mistress." Tenten said as she kneeled on one knee in front of the coffin. She was prepared to wait hours if need be, but it seemed that would not be the case as the lid to the coffin began to move. The lid seemed to float in mid-air before moving behind the coffin and landing on it's side as it leaned against the back wall.

A pair of slender hands and arms rose up from inside the coffin, as if stretching. A moment later, one of the hands grasped the top side of the coffin and the owner of the arm was pulled up. Tenten looked up to see her 'mistress' get out of her coffin and the Weapons Mistress was suddenly looking at…herself.

Indeed, the figure that rose out of the obsidian coffin was an exact replica of Tenten, only her hair was not tied in buns, but rather let down to her lower back. Her eyes were the same color, except this new Tenten's eyes briefly flashed blood red before going back to dark brown. When the Tenten from the coffin opened her mouth to yawn, it was possible to see that her canines were slightly longer than her other teeth and were pointed. She was also dressed in an elegant black kimono with gold Oni heads decorating it.

She then looked down at the girl who kneeled before her and smiled. "Rise, my child. And you may release your henge."

The kneeling Tenten stood up. As she did, a puff of smoke engulfed her. When the smoke cleared, instead of a young brunette with buns in her hair, there stood another young woman with long jet black hair that matched the color of her eyes. She was dressed in urban camo pants & a skirt, as well as a black spaghetti top and black fingerless gloves.

"How was your sleep, mistress?" The girl asked

Tenten stretched again. "It was highly refreshing Kin. I feel like a new woman. So what did I miss today?"

"The body was discovered, just like you wanted." Kin reported.

"How did Lady Tsunade respond?" Tenten asked

"She placed a curfew on the village. The only ones allowed out at night are the night guards and ANBU agents." Kin replied.

"Excellent." Tenten purred as she and Kin started up the stairs. "As good as the appetizers have been, it's time to move on to the main course." Kin licked her lips, revealing a set of her own fangs. The raven haired girl was looking forward to the veritable buffet that awaited her and her mistress.

"And the one that I've been interested in, anything new with him?" Tenten asked as the two women continued on their way up.

"Not really, my mistress. However, he does seem to be getting stronger with each passing day. Plus, he seems to gradually distancing himself from the one obsessed with the Uchiha."

"Perfect." Tenten said, grinning wickedly. "Just the opportunity I've been waiting for."

"If I may ask mistress, wouldn't be easier to simply kill the girl and then stake your claim to the one you want, this Naruto Uzumaki?" Kin asked.

"The thought crossed my mind Kin. I would have to do it rather discreetly, just in case he still has feelings for that glorified fangirl." Tenten said. There was something of a snarl in her voice at the last part, "in a fight, I would own her in an instant, especially if that joke of a match she and that other girl had during the Chunin Exams was anything to go on. I would feed on her, if only for the fact of getting the ditzy little bitch out of the way. But then I remembered an old saying; your body is like a temple. And I don't like putting trash into my temple. The same could be said for the Uchiha."

Kin had a look of disgust when her mistress mentioned the arrogant fool that her former master was so interested in. The thought of that bastard, Orochimaru, sacrificing her and her former teammates, Dosu and Zaku, just so he could try to recruit the power hungry Uchiha made the raven haired girl growl.

"Penny for your thoughts, Kin?" Tenten asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Just thinking of the past, mistress. Before you saved me and gave me a true purpose." Kin answered. Tenten gently caressed her servant's cheek, which calmed her down. Tenten knew what was going through her companion's mind.

Back at the Chunin Exams, after Tenten lost to Temari on purpose, she was taking it easy in the medical bay when one of the medics brought Kin in. She suffered a nasty blow to the head, which knocked her out. Thinking that Kin could be a highly useful servant, Tenten knocked out the medic in the room and henged him to look like Kin, while Tenten took the real Kin back to her home.

Once back in her sanctuary, Tenten offered the Sound Kunoichi a chance to be like her; a vampire, or Jiang-Shi as Tenten called herself. If she refused, then Tenten would let the girl go on her way, no harm done, but that meant Kin would have to deal with Orochimaru. Tenten also pointed out that she sensed untapped potential in the girl. And unlike Orochimaru, Tenten would always have a use for Kin.

Kin didn't even have to think about it. She accepted Tenten's offer. The brunette Jiang-Shi still remembered how sweet Kin's blood tasted when she turned the girl. Unlike with her victims, Tenten only drained three fourths of Kin's blood and didn't touch her chakra. While the girl was still conscious, Tenten slit her wrist so Kin could partake of her blood, thus acting as the catalyst for transforming Kin Tsuchi from a normal kunoichi into a creature of darkness.

Now many people saw the aftermath of the Sand / Sound Invasion as the biggest tragedy since the Kyuubi. Tenten saw it as an all you can eat buffet. Demoralized and weakened victims meant easy pickings for Tenten and her new servant. Within a week, Kin had grown strong enough to gain immunity from the sun and was roughly as strong as her mistress when she first found her, which meant that she was on equal footing with Rock Lee Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Desert, individually. While with Tenten, her strength had grown by leaps and bounds to the point where she was just about as strong as Tsunade and Jiraiya combined.

But you can only get so far by feeding on mere Genin and some Chunin. So therefore, it was time to take a calculated risk and hope it paid off. And so far, it had. Tenten left the body on one of her more recent victims in order to provoke some action from the higher ups to bring out stronger ninja for her and Kin to feed on. And like clockwork, that was what happened.

Once Tenten and Kin got back up into the house, the Weapons Mistress looked out the window and smiled at the barely visible moon. "Tonight's going to be a great night to hunt, Kin dear."

"I can't wait, my mistress." Kin said, feeling very bloodthirsty.

"Patience my dear. We still have some time to kill before the curfew begins." Tenten purred to her servant as she started to undo her kimono while walking towards the bathroom. "Why don't we begin with a nice relaxing bath?"

"Yes, my mistress." Kin happily agreed as she followed the brunette.

The furo had been filled and was ready for the two women. Tenten slipped out of her kimono when she and Kin entered the bathroom. She wore a simple black bra and underwear underneath her robe. Kin started to take off her shirt, revealing the black skull design bra she was wearing underneath. While she was busy with that, Tenten started to undo her pants, revealing the black thong she wore underneath as well as her creamy long legs and perfectly shaped ass.

Kin let out a small gasp of pleasure from her mistress' touch as she started to relieve the raven haired girl of her under garments. Tenten noticed that her servant was getting more than a little damp around her neither region.

"Now now, Kin. I was kind enough to help you get ready. Aren't you going to help me?" Tenten purred.

"Y-y-yes, mistress." Kin said as she started to unclothe the brunette, getting some moans of pleasure from her mistress. In a moment, they were both as naked as the day they were first born.

"Have a seat Kin." Tenten calmly ordered and the raven haired girl did as she was told by sitting on one of the wooden stools in the room. Tenten then took a bucket of warm water and gently poured it over her minion. Moving Kin's long hair out of the way, Tenten began to gently lather her back. As she was doing so, Tenten's impressive breasts were pressed against Kin's back, resulting in some moans from the raven haired girl.

It was then that the Weapons Mistress decided to have a little fun with her servant. "So Kin, were you keeping tabs on Naruto today like I asked you to?" Tenten asked as she started to rub around Kin's waist.

"Yes Mistress Tenten. I did." The former Sound Kunoichi replied.

"Good." Tenten replied as her arms snaked around the Kin's front side and started to work her way up to her breasts. Kin's breathing started to become shallow as her mistress started to gently massage her breasts. She could also feel Tenten's nipples start to harden on her back.

"So, tell me, and be honest, did you have any…naughty thoughts during your observation?" Tenten asked.

"Huh?" Kin asked, completely caught off guard by her mistress' question. "Wh-what?"

"Did you have a few fantasies about Naruto while I asked you to watch him over the past few days? Tenten asked in differently worded question. As she did so, Tenten's hands started moving downward towards Kin's flat stomach.

"Um no. No, my mistress." Kin replied, her voice a little shaky both from the ecstasy of Tenten's touch and the inquisitive nature of her mistress' questioning. "What gave you that idea?"

"Hmm. It's probably because the other night when you and I were…sneaking a peak at him while he was taking a shower, I noticed the glazed over look in your eyes when we saw his…tool." Tenten explained as her hands were gradually moving down past Kin's bellybutton.

"I-I." Kin tried to think of an answer, but it was getting gradually harder to think as Tenten's magical fingers were just above her freshly shaven pussy.

"You like him as well, don't you?" Tenten asked.

"N-n-no, m-m-mistress." Kin replied as she struggled to control herself.

"No?" Tenten said, ceasing in her teasing for the moment. "Why?"

"B-because y-you have c-claimed him, m-mistress. And I don't want to steal him from you." Kin quickly explained.

Tenten had to smile. The girl was so much fun to tease.

"Well Kin, I have to admire your honesty." Tenten said as she gently stroked the poor girl's pussy with her right index fingers, which caused Kin's breathing to speed up. "It's a shame really." Tenten calmly said. "Sometimes, I'll be out on a mission while you and Naruto will be stuck by yourselves and I going to need someone to keep him company while I'm gone. Now who can I trust with such a task?" Tenten mock thought as she continued to torture Kin with her finger.

"Can I trust you Kin?" Tenten asked. "Can you keep Naruto from going to another woman in my absence?"

"Y-y-yes m-m-mistress. I will!" Kin gasped out. Tenten smiled as she whispered in her servant's ear.

"Do you want to cum now, Kin?"

"YES!" Kin practically screamed. "PLEASE MAKE ME CUM! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

Tenten licked the girl's neck and did her magic. "As you wish, my sweet little Kin."

A few moments later, Kin screamed again as she could feel her juices practically gush out of her and her limps spasmed uncontrollably for a moment. Tenten continued to hold her so she wouldn't hurt herself. The smell of soap was mixed with the scent of Kin's essence.

Tenten kissed her minion as she was recovering from her orgasm. "I love you Kin."

"I love you too, Mistress Tenten." Kin replied as she was in pure bliss.

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After a lengthy soak in the furo and a rather steamy make-out session, Tenten and Kin were cleaned up and fully dressed. By the time they were ready, it was half past ten at night, meaning the curfew was in effect.

It also meant one more thing for the two vampiric women: Feeding time.

Both were clad in their regular clothes. Kin was rocking the same outfit as before, while Tenten wore her typical Chinese style clothing, except her top was black.

The lights in the house were off, engulfing the room in darkness. But that didn't bother either of them as they could see in the dark. If anyone could see them, they would see that the eyes of the two young women faintly glowed red.

After performing a henge to make them look like ANBU members, the two Jiang-Shi were off.

"The night is young, so let the hunt begin." Tenten said as she and Kin smiled evilly under their masks. And with that, the two vampires disappeared into the night, where their victims awaited.


	2. Chapter 2

Just as Tsunade decreed earlier that day, the streets of the Leaf Village were devoid of life with the notable exceptions of the ANBU Black Ops and the night guards at their stations. The moon was barely visible in the dark sky as a small crescent smile that was reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat from 'Alice in Wonderland.'

Kin Tsuchi, former kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Sound / sacrificial lamb of Orochimaru, now bloodthirsty Jiang-Shi vampire and servant of Tenten Xiayu (though she preferred the term "Assistant Agent of Darkness" as it sounded cooler and looked better on a resume.), leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Her disguise as an ANBU was flawless as it allowed her to traverse the village freely. She smiled underneath her cat mask at how easy it would be to swoop down on some unsuspecting fool and feed.

Even though she was immune to light of day, it was during the night when Kin truly felt more alive than she did before Tenten turned her. She felt invincible, like she was a goddess among mortals, or at least a goddess that served and even greater goddess.

Kin didn't have to search very long before she found her first meal of the night. Patrolling the rural part of the village was one of the night guards. Judging from his chakra level, the guard was low Chunin. Not too bad for an appitizer. And easy to capture as well as this particular section of the village was filled with dark alleys that were perfect hiding spots to strike from.

The raven haired girl ducked into an alley and waited for her victim to approach. While she waited, Kin extended her senses and could not detect anyone else in the area. As good as the ANBU Black Ops were, not even they could completely suppress their chakra.

A few moments later, the night guard, completely unaware of his fate, passed by the alley where Kin was waiting. When Kin saw her opportunity, she struck. Putting one hand around the guards mouth so he would not scream while hitting a pressure point with her other hand, Kin dragged her unconscious meal back into the alley.

Holding the guard by his neck with one hand, Kin removed her mask and opened her mouth. A moment later, a pale greenish blue energy began to flow out of the guard's mouth and into Kin's. The whole process took less than a minute. Using the hand she was holding the guard with, Kin could feel no pulse. The guard was dead, his chakra and life force completely devoured by the raven haired Jiang-Shi.

"Mmm. Tasty." Kin said as she licked her lips. Under normal circumstances, Kin would have also fed on the guard's blood as well through the old-fashioned method (i.e. biting into his jugular vein), but her mistress had tasked Kin with 'feeding the children.'

Hoisting the dead guard over her shoulder effortlessly, Kin vanished in a swirl of dust, leaving no sign that she was ever there.

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Deep in one of the forests of the leaf village, there was a rather old cemetery that hadn't been used since the time of the first and second Hokages. It was treated more around the lines of some urban myth by the younger generation of Konaha inhabitants, while the few people who actually knew of the cemetery, mostly the older generation, felt it was a waste of land and didn't care, which meant it was perfect for Tenten and her vampiric minions.

Kin suddenly materialized in a swirl of dust on top of one of the crypts that overlooked the cemetery. The area was a few acres in length and width, not too big, but not too small either.

The raven haired Jiang-Shi threw her lifeless victim down into the mass of graves. The body landed head first on the ground. A sick snapping sound accompanied the sound of his impact, signifying that the neck was broken. If the guard wasn't dead before, he was now.

"Wake up, boys. It's feeding time." Kin said. A moment later, the sound of grunting and the shuffling of feet could be heard as several figures suddenly appeared from the shadows. Among them were two figures that had Kin's attention. One was a tall young man with a scarf around his neck. He wore urban camo pants and a shirt that had the kanji for death written on the front three times. His arms hung down at an unnatural angle.

The other was another young man whose face was wrapped almost completely in bandages, save for his mouth and one of his eyes. On his back was what appeared to be a cape made of straw. What stood out from this figure was the fact that he looked rather mutilated. His clothes were covered in dried, crusty looking blood and one of his arms was torn off.

Kin looked at the two zombie like creatures as they shuffled towards the guard along with the others. The former sound kunoichi could help but grin maliciously at them. They were once her teammates in the Chunin Exam, Dosu Kinuta and Zaku Abume, although Kin used the term 'teammates' highly loosely.

She had to laugh, seeing Dosu and Zaku as they were now. Tenten had told Kin that there were really two varieties of Jiang-Shi. There were the ones like Tenten and herself, who were indistinguishable from ordinary humans. And then there were the ones who were more like zombies. These kinds of Jiang-Shi were created when infusing recently deceased corpses with some of the chakra of the master vampire.

The zombie Jiang-Shi that inhabited the cemetery were all created by Tenten and thus under her control and bound to her will. Their intelligence had decreased into almost nothing, but they were smart enough to understand instructions, provided they were simple enough. They were useful as foot soldiers and even though Tenten had thought her zombie-like minions were immensely flawed, Kin felt a certain amount of satisfaction, especially seeing how Dosu and Zaku shuffled around like the brainless simpletons they were.

"How ironic. They were mindless pawns when they were alive and they're mindless pawns now. Such a fitting fate for those two." Kin said as the zombies started to eat the guard's body. After the Sand/Sound Invasion, Tenten and Kin discovered Dosu and Zaku's bodies at the Chunin Exam Stadium. Under the disguise of ANBU Black Ops, the two vampires took the corpses to the cemetery and transformed them into zombies, thus recruiting them into Tenten's small, but growing, army of the damned.

As she watched the zombies devour their meal, Kin's mind started to wander around other things, such as the boy her mistress had asked her to keep tabs on, Naruto Uzumaki. The raven haired girl thought back to earlier that night, when she and Tenten had their 'fun.' While she knew that her mistress had staked her claim to the blonde young man, there was a part of Kin that found herself drawn to him. But because her loyalty to Tenten was far greater than her attraction to Naruto, Kin was more than content to stand aside.

However, when Tenten told Kin that she was willing to share the young man, the part of her that was attracted to Naruto was overjoyed. Granted, her mistress would always be first in line, but Kin didn't mind that at all. It was better than nothing and as great as Tenten was with her fingers, it was still no substitute for a nice sizable dick, something Kin noticed Naruto had when she and Tenten were 'observing' the young man one night through his bathroom window.

"And if I'm lucky, Mistress Tenten will allow me to have a child with him as well." Kin thought with a genuine smile.

The sounds of some grunts and snarls broke her out of her train of pleasant thoughts. Kin looked down to see that the zombies had finished their meal.

"Alright, you had your meal. Now back to your resting places until the mistress or myself summon you again." Kin said with a hint of irritation in her voice, slightly angry at the fact that the brainless drones interrupted her thoughts. She watched as Dosu and Zaku shambled their way back towards another crypt. Looking down to her right, Kin noticed a rod attached to the crypt that she was standing on. Breaking the rod off, Kin launched it like a javelin towards the ground. It was imbedded in the ground, right in front of the crypt that Dosu and Zaku were heading into, but it was at a sharp angle just off the ground.

When Zaku was about to enter the crypt, he tripped over the broken rod and crashed to ground. Dosu was right behind him and tripped over him, sending him down as well. Kin smiled in satisfaction at seeing the misfortune of her former teammates. "Another very small installment of what they owe me for all the hell they put me through back in Oto." The raven haired girl said to herself as Dosu and Zaku picked themselves up and continued onward into the crypt as if nothing happened.

"Now that the kids have been fed, it's time for me to chow down. Hopefully Mistress Tenten left some for me." Kin said as she once again vanished in a swirl of dust.

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Elsewhere, Naruto Uzumaki was sleeping soundly in his bed, completely unaware of the pair of dark chocolate brown eyes looking at him from the window.

"So close, yet so far away at the same time."

Perched on the roof of a building next to Naruto's apartment was Tenten in her ANBU disguise. She had a look of longing behind her panda mask. The same look she had ever since she witnessed to battle between the blonde and Neji at the Chunin Exams. Ever since she first witnessed the power, the strength and that succulent red chakra the he emitted, Tenten was determined to make Naruto hers.

She recognized the red chakra he emitted back at the Chunin Exams as demonic chakra. That would need some looking into, but for the most part, Tenten didn't care. He would make a fine addition to her small but growing group, whether he was turned or not. The demonic chakra meant that Naruto was either part demon or had some kind of connection to a demon. And Tenten had her suspicions, especially if some of the snide remarks some of the villagers sent Naruto's way were any indication, but she couldn't be sure. Besides, once the brunette gained the blonde young man's trust, he would probably tell her.

'Soon my love, we will be together.' Tenten thought as she kept looking at the sleeping Naruto while thinking of all the fun that she could have with him and Kin.

On the subject of her raven haired servant, Tenten could sense her approaching from the cemetery. Within moments, Kin appeared beside her mistress.

"So, have the children been fed?" Tenten asked.

"Yes, my mistress." Kin kneeled before the brunette. She looked over at Naruto sleeping form and blushed slightly underneath her mask. Tenten noticed Kin looking at Naruto and grinned.

"I think he'll make a superb Jiang-Shi, don't you, my dear sweet Kin?" Tenten said.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I think he will, my mistress." Kin answered. "But do you think we will be able to turn him into one of us? You said that demonic chakra tends to complicate things."

"We might, then again, we might not. The important thing is that we get him on our side." Tenten said, running her hand through Kin's silky smooth hair. "With that done, it won't really matter if he is one of us or not. Besides, there may be times when we may require someone is isn't a Jiang-Shi to assist us. Say for example, a sentinel to watch over us when we sleep and are defenseless."

"Right." Kin said, nodding in agreement.

"And if my suspicions are correct Kin, our friend Naruto over there can help the both of us in creating a new generation of Jiang-Shi." Tenten said.

"What do you mean, mistress?" Kin asked

"Imagine it Kin." Tenten said as she caressed the raven haired girl's cheeks, "With Naruto's assistance, the both of us giving birth to a new race with the combined powers and abilities of Jiang-Shi and a demon. The three of us, ruling over all and doing anything we want. Every single fool who has ever wronged us will bow before us."

"I can't wait, mistress." Kin said, feeling very turned on.

"I can't either." Tenten said…before the sound of a can hitting the ground could be heard. Tenten's eyes widened as she whirled around quickly, just in time to see someone drop to the ground and take off running. It was an ANBU

Tenten and Kin let out animalistic snarls as they watched the ANBU run. "Don't you just hate it when someone tries to spoil the ending to something good?" Tenten said

"Yes, mistress." Kin replied.

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It was purely by luck that the Root ANBU happened to overhear the two girls talking. He was assigned to keep tabs on the Kyuubi brat, but what he just found out was interesting to say the least. "Master Danzo will want to hear about this little development." The Root agent thought to himself as he made his way back towards the Root Facility.

He couldn't sense any chakra signatures, meaning that he lost the two little wenches. "Almost home free." The ANBU said to himself.

"Perhaps, but almost is never good enough." Came a cold voice from right behind the Root agent. The next thing he knew, he felt someone tightly pinching down on the pressure point in his neck and darkness took his sight.

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The painful sensation of a punch to the jaw brought the Root ANBU back into consciousness.

"Rise and shine." A female voice said as the ANBU agent opened his eyes. Right in front of him was a girl with long black hair and was dressed in ANBU garb. She smiled, revealing her fangs. The Root agent tried to move, only to find out that he was securely fastened to a chair that was bolted to the ground. He looked around to see that he was in some kind of warehouse.

"Oh, I wouldn't move around if I were you." Another female voice said. A brunette with her hair tied in to two buns came into view. Like the first girl, she too was dressed up as an ANBU. "Those chakra chains react to movement and tend to tighten up."

As if on cue, the chains holding the Root agent did indeed tighten and caused some pain.

"Now then." Tenten said as she and Kin looked at their prisoner. "That was very rude of you back there. Running off without even having the class to introduce yourself. Tsk tsk." The Root agent said nothing. "Now, I'm just going out on a limb, but that featureless mask of yours means that you're not a typical member of the ANBU Black Ops, am I right?"

Again, the Root ANBU said nothing. "He's quite the gifted speaker, isn't he mistress?" Kin said.

"I think he just needs to come out of that shell of his." Tenten said as she removed the Root mask, revealing a rather plain looking young man with short brown hair. He had an emotionless look on his face.

"Why do they have to do things the hard way?" Tenten sighed as she looked the ANBU in the eye.

"What's this little bitch trying to do? Have a staring contest with me or…some…th." The Root ANBU thought to himself before Tenten's eyes began to glow red. It was too late that he realized that she was hypnotizing him

"Now, whom do you serve?" The brunette asked.

"I serve Tenten, queen of the Jiang-Shi." The Root ANBU replied emotionlessly.

"Excellent." Tenten grinned evilly. "Now let's try having a conversation again, shall we? You're not a normal ANBU, right?"

"No, mistress." The ANBU replied like a drone.

"Who sent you?" Tenten asked.

"Danzo, head of the Leaf Village's war ministry and the special ANBU forces, ROOT."

"Ah yes, ROOT. I heard some cloak and dagger stories about you. Thought they were just stories though. But I guess I was mistaken." Tenten said. "So why were you around Naruto's apartment?"

"I was assigned to watch over Naruto Uzumaki."

"Why?" Tenten narrowed her eyes. This may be a good opportunity to confirm what she had suspected about the blonde. "Why does he need a special ANBU to observe him?"

"Naruto Uzumaki is the living vessel for the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked the village twelve years ago. Danzo is waiting for the right opportunity to integrate him into the ROOT program and turn him into a weapon."

"Oh really?" Tenten said, her voice taking on a sharp edge. While she was happy that she was right about Naruto, the idea that one of those narrow-minded fools that controlled the village was trying to turn him into an emotionless machine angered the brunette vampire. That was when an idea suddenly entered her mind.

"Here's what you will do. You will act as my eyes and ears within ROOT." Tenten said as she pulled the Root agent's collar down and bit down on his neck. The ANBU didn't even flinch. Tenten licked the wound to seal it. After a moment, it was as if the bite mark was never there. "I just placed a mental link on you, so that way you will not be able to disobey me and I will be able to see and hear everything that you see and hear."

"Yes mistress." The ANBU replied. Tenten snapped her fingers and the chakra chains came loose. Kin handed the Root agent his mask, in which he put it back on.

"Now be gone. When I require your services again, I will summon you." Tenten said. With that, the Root ANBU disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Tenten then looked over to Kin.

"Let's go, Kin. The night is still young."

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After a night of feeding on a few more guards and a couple of ANBU, Tenten and Kin decided to call it quits for the night. The two Jiang-Shi sealed the bodies of their victims in storage scrolls so they could feed the zombies at the cemetery later. Dawn was approaching as Tenten and Kin got back home. There was no doubt in Tenten's mind that a few disappearances of some night guards and ANBU would catch Tsunade's attention. Knowing this, there was a good chance that Team Guy would be called into action and considering how spent she and Kin were, Tenten didn't need to be involved in the typical kind of training that Might Guy probably had in store.

As such, Tenten decided to do what she did before she turned Kin: create a special kind of clone, a blood clone, to take her place for today. Her blood clones were a lot like Shadow Clones, only a lot more durable. The only thing was that she could not create a truckload of them like Naruto did with his Shadow Clones. But for now, one was really all she needed.

Taking a kunai and cutting her wrist, Tenten let her blood pool on the floor. After she spilled a sufficient amount, Kin moved over to lick the wound and seal it shut. "Thank you Kin." Tenten said before looking down at the small pool of blood on the floor.

"Arise." Tenten said. With that, the blood began to spread slightly and started to rise upward. The shapeless red blob taking on a humanoid shape. Within moments, where there was once a puddle of blood, was now an exact replica of Tenten in her typical clothing.

"You know what to do." Tenten told the clone, who only nodded obediently as an answer before walking off into another part of the house. "Good." Tenten then turned over to Kin. "As for you Kin, follow me."

Kin followed her mistress down into the basement like a puppy would follow its master. "With my blood clone in place, you'll have to sleep downstairs with me."

"Yes, my mistress." Kin replied happily.

After climbing down the long flight of stairs, the two Jiang-Shi entered Tenten's sleeping chamber. The two girls undid their disguises and undressed themselves before getting into the obsidian coffin, the inside of which looked highly comfortable.

Kin snuggled next to her mistress, who ran her fingers through her hair. "Tonight was a rather productive, don't you agree Kin?"

"Yes, Mistress Tenten." Kin replied, feeling very content in her mistress's loving embrace. She then thought about what Tenten had said earlier. The part where the both of them and Naruto would create a new race of vampire.

"Penny for your thoughts Kin?" Tenten asked, noticing the thoughtful look on her servant's face.

"Uh, just thinking about what you said earlier, Mistress Tenten. The part about Naruto fathering our children." Kin said, briefly pondering what her children would look like with Naruto as the father.

"Yes. It is something to think about." Tenten said. She too was trying to visualize her future children as well. As the two girls talked, the lid of the coffin shut, engulfing them in darkness. Tenten kissed Kin

"Sleep well, my dear sweet Kin."

"You as well, my mistress, my love."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thirteen years ago_

_"Get her into the maternity ward, NOW!"_

_Several doctors were quickly pushing a stretcher down a hospital hallway towards their destination. Laying on top of said stretcher was a woman with long dark brown hair that matched the color of her eyes. She was dressed in a white maternity dress and judging from the size of her belly, the woman was in her final trimester of pregnancy…and judging from the pained expression on her face, she was in labor._

_Now a woman giving birth was really nothing new for the men and women of Konaha Medical Corps. But when a woman was about to give birth AND had a very nasty looking wound on her neck at the same time, that was a different story._

_"But what about that wound on her neck?! If we don't do something, she'll bleed out!" One of the doctors yelled as he started to hook up an IV bag._

_If Ami Xiayu heard anything, she gave no sign. She was just in so much pain, from the wound on her neck to the life that had been growing inside of her that was ready to leave the womb. As this was happening, she could also feel something else. It was as if her entire body was going through some kind of change. The lights in the hospital were suddenly much brighter. Her teeth, specifically her canines were sharper._

_And despite all of the pain she was in, Ami felt very thirsty all of a sudden._

_"Okay Miss Xiayu, push!"_

_One of the doctors' voices managed to cut through the daze she was seemingly in. Ami did as she was told and was rewarded with a fresh surge of pain for her efforts._

_"Please, let my baby live." Ami thought as she continued to push her child through her birth canal._

_With a final push and another loud scream, Ami could feel the mass that had been growing inside her for the past nine months finally leave her body. A moment later, the sound of a crying newborn could be heard._

_The last thing Ami Xiayu saw before darkness took her was the sight of her baby girl cradled in a nurse's arms and looking down at her with the same dark brown eyes as her._

_"Tenten. My sweet little Tenten." Ami said before she fell into unconsciousness._

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Tenten opened her eyes to see that she was in her coffin. Her nocturnal eyesight allowing her to see in the darkness of the coffin with the lid shut. Glancing to her right, the brunette Jiang-Shi saw that Kin was cuddled up next to her, sleeping peacefully.

Tenten gently ran her fingers through Kin's jet black locks as she thought back to the dream she just had. It wasn't the first time she had that particular dream and it certainly wouldn't be the last. It was obviously about her mother in her apparent final moments and Tenten's very first moments. She was clearly too young to remember anything else after that. All Tenten could recall from her youth was that she was an orphan until she was about five when she was adopted by a local blacksmith named Genosuke. He was a good man who did his best to raise Tenten, and she did have to admit, the blacksmith did a good job…until she found out what she was.

The brunette Jiang-Shi remembered when she first became aware of just how different she was from everyone else.

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_Eight year old Tenten could already sense that today was just a horrible, lousy, no-good, rotten day and class at the academy hadn't even started yet. She felt worn out and exhausted, even though she had gotten a full night of sleep the night before. And for some odd reason, the lights were brighter than they usually were, forcing the little girl to squint to protect her eyes from the seemingly blinding lights. And to top it all off, she was very thirsty._

_"I don't get it. I drank three bottles of water and I'm still thirsty." Tenten thought to herself as class began._

_"Are you okay, Tenten?" The young brunette looked over to see one of her only friends, Rock Lee, walking over to her with a look of concern on his face. "You don't look very well."_

_"I'm fine, Lee. Thanks." Tenten replied with a smile. "I'm just tired that's all."_

_The chunin in charge of the class was about to begin when he noticed Tenten's appearance. She looked deathly pale and exhausted. Feeling some pity for the girl, he sent her to the nurse's office, whom in turn summoned her foster father to take her home._

_Once she was home, Tenten went up to her room, drew the shades on the windows and instantly fell asleep the moment she touched her bed._

_Genosuke, Tenten's foster father, decided to head over to the market to pick up some things to make for his adopted daughter. He only hoped that he could help out with whatever was wrong with the little girl._

_When Tenten fell asleep, it had been around mid morning. When she woke up, the sun was almost down. Sitting up in her bed, the brunette stretched her tired muscles. She still felt tired, but nowhere near as much as she did earlier. In fact, she felt much better. The only thing that was still bothering her was that she was still so very thirsty. Reaching for a glass of water that Genosuke apparently left, Tenten took the liquid in great gulps, but it didn't seem to quench her thirst._

_"Maybe I just need something to eat." Tenten said to herself as she got up out of bed and made her way downstairs._

_"Well, look who's finally awake." Genosuke said as he saw his adopted daughter enter the kitchen._

_"Hi, Daddy." Tenten said, wincing slightly at the light_

_"Are you feeling better, kiddo?" Genosuke asked, concern lining his features._

_"Yeah. A lot better compared to this morning." Tenten replied. "I just feel so thirsty."_

_Genosuke fixed the girl a glass of water. "Here you go, dear."_

_Tenten just shook her head. "I've tried that. I must've drank two gallons worth of water today and I'm still thirsty." That was when Tenten was hit with a sudden urge. "Um Daddy, can you excuse me for a moment?"_

_With that, Tenten suddenly bolted upstairs to the bathroom. After a few minutes, she came back down, looking more relieved. "Much better."_

_By the time Genosuke and Tenten finished dinner, the sun had completely set and Tenten felt considerably better, though she thought it was because she had another meal made up of her foster father's excellent homemade pork buns._

_After dinner, Genosuke went to his workshop to finish up an order of kunai daggers. Tenten went with him to see if she could help out. While he was working, Genosuke accidently cut his thumb. Tenten ran to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit._

_"Okay Daddy, let's get that wrapped up." Tenten said as she got out a band-aid. "But first, I gotta kiss it so it'll get better."_

_Genosuke smiled at his adopted daughter as she kissed the small, but steadily bleeding cut. When Tenten kissed the wound, the blood got on her lips. The brunette licked the blood off her lips…and was suddenly overcome by a strange sensation._

_"What is this feeling?" Tenten thought to herself. It was indescribable. The blood, it was…delicious._

_Without thinking, Tenten put her father's thumb in her mouth and started to suck the blood flowing from the cut._

_"What the? Tenten! What are you doing?" Genosuke asked, pulling his thumb from Tenten's mouth. "What's the matter with you?"_

_If Tenten heard her father, she gave no sign. She was too lost in her erratic thoughts. "The blood. It's the blood that quenched my thirst." She thought._

_"Tenten! Snap out of it!" Genosuke said, shaking the girl's shoulders slightly. It seemed to work as Tenten blinked several times as if coming out of a trance._

_"Tenten, what just came over you?" Genosuke asked with a worried expression on his face._

_It was then that Tenten just realized what she just did. "I…I…don't know."_

_The next morning, Tenten got out of bed feeling drained. She looked out the window to see the sun gradually rising out of the east. It looked like another beautiful day…and Tenten thought she was going to be sick. It was strange. She felt great last night, especially after the small taste of blood from her foster father's wounded thumb. Now, she felt like hell in a hand basket. Of course, that could have been because she had to get up multiple times during the night to use the bathroom._

_As the brunette little girl sat up in her bed, desperately trying to gather enough energy to at least stand up, she also tried to make sense of what happened last night._

_"What's happening to me?" Tenten asked herself, suddenly feeling disgusted with herself as the events of the night before came back to the forefront of her mind._

_Just then, there was a knock at her door. "Tenten, are you awake?" It was Genosuke._

_"Yeah Daddy." Tenten answered as her father opened her door. He was holding a scroll._

_"Are you feeling better, Tenten?" Genosuke asked._

_Tenten shook her head. "I feel lousy."_

_"Maybe you should stay home for today." Genosuke suggested. He then handed the scroll to his adopted daughter._

_"What's this?" The little girl asked._

_"Don't know. It was on the front porch this morning." Genosuke replied. "It's addressed to you, sweetie."_

_Tenten took the scroll. It certainly was a fancy-looking scroll, even more so than the ones that her father used for storing weapons. The paper was pure white with red and black trim. Her name was written on a small piece of paper that was attached to the seal. As she looked at the scroll, Genosuke turned to leave._

_"I have some errands to run this morning, kiddo. Are you going to be alright by yourself for a while?" The blacksmith asked his daughter. Tenten nodded and yawned._

_"I think I just need some rest." Tenten said. Genosuke nodded and left. A few minutes later, the sound of the front door could be heard opening and closing, meaning, for the time being, Tenten was alone._

_While she was dead tired, Tenten removed the seal from the scroll, curious to find out what it was. When she opened the scroll, a separate letter was attached to the inside of it. "What's this?" Tenten thought to herself as she started to read the letter._

_Hello Tenten. I hope that this letter finds you felling at least a little better. I'm afraid that I cannot tell you much about myself, other than the fact that I may be able to help you. I am sure that you have a lot of questions and they will be answered in due time. But for now, it is imperative that you are made aware of what is happening to you and what you must do in order to survive._

_Tenten's eyes widened as she continued to read the letter._

_First of all, I know that you have been plagued with a feeling of extreme fatigue, especially during the daytime hours. This is also accompanied by sensitivity to light and a nigh unquenchable thirst. By now, you have probably realized that there is only one thing that can satisfy your thirst. You received your first taste just last night._

_Tenten almost dropped the letter right there. "This has got to be some kind of a joke." The little girl thought, but the more she read, the more she knew that whoever wrote this letter was dead serious._

_Now as you read this, your first instinct would most likely be to talk with your foster father. I must insist against that. This letter and this scroll are for your eyes and your eyes alone. In case you have not figured it out, the only thing that can quench your thirst is blood._

_You see Tenten, you may think that you are what many would call a vampire. That is not exactly the case. You are a special kind of vampire, a Jiang-Shi, a vampire from a land known as China. While it is true that Jiang-Shi feed on blood like typical vampires, we feed on human life force as well. Here in the Elemental Lands, the life force of mortals in mixed with chakra, thus, we feed on blood and chakra. And yes. I said 'we,' meaning that I am a Jiang-Shi as well._

_Another thing that separates us from 'normal' vampires (other than the fact that we do NOT sparkle. Damn whom ever wrote those infernal books that inspired those damnable movies. They give us creatures of the night a bad name. Sorry, my own little rant there.) is that we can actually survive in direct sunlight, however, in your weakened state, it will not last. If you do not feed within the next 24 hours, I am afraid that you will not survive much longer. Once you have fed on enough blood and/or chakra, you will gain immunity from the cursed sun. Also, depending on how strong your prey is, you will absorb their strength, thus increasing your own strength, chakra capacity and so on._

_Within the scroll, I have enclosed a canister of blood for you to consume so that you may keep up your strength. But after that, I'm afraid that you're on your own. You will also find the techniques we Jiang-Shi use to feed. I suggest going after a homeless person or someone who will not be missed for your first feeding._

_I know that it will be hard, but sadly, this is the world that we live in. It is actually not all that different from what the shinobi of these lands do. The fools who teach at the academy may try to sugar coat the fact, but the truth is that shinobi and we Jiang-Shi are a lot alike. We hunt and we kill. The main difference is that while the ninjas do it for a job, Jiang-Shi do it to survive._

_I hope that this has helped you gain a clearer understanding as to what is happening and what you must do. I will be watching you Tenten. Perhaps we will be able to meet one day. Until then, do try to stay alive and stay safe._

_Tenten just looked at the letter, trying to digest what she had just learned. "I'm…I'm a Jiang-Shi?" Tenten said to herself. A part of her wanted to believe that this was some kind of elaborate joke, but for the most part, the little girl knew what she just read was pure fact._

_Putting the letter down, Tenten then turned her attention to the scroll. It was split into sections. The first of which was something that Tenten recognized instantly: a storage space. Inscribed beside it were the instructions on how to unseal what was contained within. The young brunette followed the instructions and with a puff of smoke, there was a glass drinking container with dark red liquid._

_As she held the container, a myriad of thoughts ran through Tenten's mind. Part of her wanted to resist and pretend that this was all some twisted dream. But as she looked at the viscous red liquid, she could feel her thirst returning, stronger than ever. Instinct overrode common sense as Tenten tore the top of the container off, brought her lips to the edge of the glass, tilted it and drank. With each gulp came a wave of relief mixed in with a sensation of sheer ecstasy._

_When Tenten emptied the container's contents, she tried to lick up any remains. "Ahhhh!" Tenten licked her lips. Never before had she feasted on something so wonderfully delicious. "I must have more." The little girl said to herself. She remembered what the letter said. That container was her only freebie. If she wanted more, she had to get it herself. Grabbing the scroll and feeling much better than she was not a moment ago, Tenten started to read._

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That memory brought a smile to Tenten's face as she thought back. It was almost like a lullaby to help her sleep. The brunette Jiang-Shi then thought back to the events that occurred later that very day. Her first true feeding.

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_After about an hour of reading through the scroll, Tenten now had a basic idea as to what she needed to do when it came time to feed._

_It was then that she heard something downstairs. "Daddy?" Tenten said softly. Putting down the scroll, the little girl quietly snuck over to her door. If it was her foster father, he would have announced his arrival. But then again, he probably thought that she was asleep._

_Opening her door as quietly as she could, Tenten tiptoed towards the stairs. Looking down, she saw a man dressed in all black, kind of like the ANBU guys Genosuke told her about, only he didn't wear an animal mask, just a regular mask that covered all except his eyes. A burglar._

_She was about to yell, until she suddenly remembered the letter and the suggestion for her first feeding._

_"No one's going to miss a burglar." Tenten thought to herself. Suddenly, the little girl felt a feral grin form on her face. "Lunch time."_

_Tenten quietly snuck downstairs without the intruder noticing. Whoever this thief was, he or she was no shinobi. Or if it was a ninja, he or she needed a lot more training, especially if an academy student was better at stealth than they were._

_Meanwhile, the burglar was gradually making his way towards Genosuke's workshop. "Heh heh. That stupid blacksmith. Refusing me service when I told him I wanted weapons to kill that demon brat." The thief laughed to himself, unaware of little Tenten sneaking up behind him. "Too bad he won't be around to refuse anyone else service." He then took out a bloody knife. Tenten almost gasped in horror. She could smell the blood and she instantly knew that it was her father's blood. "My little friend saw to that."_

_"He…he hurt Daddy." Tenten thought. Sorrow quickly made way for anger. No longer intent on staying hidden, the little girl moved away from her hiding place and cleared her throat, announcing her presence. The thief turned around to see Tenten. He smiled evilly under his mask._

_"Well, well. What's this?" The thief said in an amused tone of voice._

_"You hurt my daddy…and you're going to pay." Tenten said in a voice that was devoid of fear._

_The burglar just laughed. "And how are you going to do that?"_

_Tenten just smiled like a predator ready to attack. "Like this."_

_With that, Tenten sent two kunai daggers that she had hidden on her into the thief's kneecaps. The result was rather academic. The thief yelled in pain as he collapsed to the ground. The daggers were thrown so fast and hard that they actually pierced the bones._

_When Tenten got close, the burglar tried to swipe at her with his knife. But Tenten merely kicked it away. She had gotten additional lessons in self-defense from Genosuke after all._

_"And now, it's time for you to pay." Tenten as she took two more kunai daggers out and used them to nail the thief's hands to the ground, to which he yelled in pain. The thief was on his back, wondering what the little psycho was going to do next. He saw her make some handsigns that the ninjas around the village used. What he saw next was enough to make him wonder if the pain was making him delirious as he could have sworn that the girl just grew a set of fangs._

_Tenten then got on her knees and used one of her hand to push the burglar's head to the side slightly, giving her a clean shot at the side of the man's neck, more specifically, his jugular vein._

_"Wha…what are you doing?! Wait! Stop!" The man pleaded just before Tenten bit into his neck and began to feed._

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"I suppose it is true what they say. You DO remember your first." Tenten mused as remembered what happened next. It turned out that the thief had wanted to buy weapons to kill the 'demon,' which she now knew was Naruto. Genosuke refused him service. Apparently, Genosuke was among those that never saw Naruto as a monster, but rather as the one who kept the monster at bay.

The burglar obviously didn't appreciate that, so he stabbed Genosuke when he was out doing errands. Tenten would later find out that Genosuke died from his wounds. It saddened the brunette greatly, but at the same time, it really opened her eyes and it served as a lesson that the world was not always a pleasant place.

After gathering up all of her foster father's weapons as well as her own possessions and sealing them inside storage scrolls, Tenten set fire to her former home. The fire was blamed on hoodlums in the area. Not long after that, the Hokage gave Tenten her current residence, which has served her well thus far.

And that brought her to the present, laying in her comfortable coffin alongside her beautiful servant. Tenten softly kissed Kin on her forehead before she started to fall back to sleep, resting for the oncoming day.

"Ah, another beautiful day in the Leaf Village." Tenten said with a serene smile on her face…that instantly turned into a scowl. "Makes me wanna hurl."

"Overcast is never around when you truly need it." Kin said as she and her mistress walked down a street that would take them to the market. Kin was using a henge to alter her appearance, just in case someone from the Chunin Exam recognized her. She looked more or less the same, except her jet black hair was now a dark violet and her eyes were dark brown like Tenten's. Also, her complexion was more tanned.

Currently, the two Jiang-Shi vampires were going to market to pick up some groceries. Even though they lived on blood and human life force, neither Tenten or Kin could ever give up their favorite foods while growing up. For Tenten, it was pork buns. For Kin, it was okonomiyaki.

Just as the two girls were about to reach the grocery store, they both heard a familiar WHOOP. Tenten and Kin looked over to see that they were about to pass by Ichiraku's Ramen. And entering the small stand was a familiar figure dressed in his trademark orange jumpsuit.

"Kin, are you in the mood for ramen?" Tenten asked her henged servant.

"That and other things, Mistress." Kin replied.

"I think it's time you and I properly introduce ourselves." Tenten said as she and Kin walked towards the stand.

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Meanwhile, Naruto had taken his usual stool inside the stand. "Hey Teuchi. How are you and Ayame doing?"

The old ramen chef turned around with a soft smile. "We're doing good, Naruto. Thanks for asking."

The blonde Jinchuriki had a look of worry on his face as he looked at Teuchi. He looked tired and appeared to be suffering from a lack of sleep. Honestly, Naruto couldn't blame the poor guy. "Where's Ayame?"

"She's at the hospital." Teuchi replied. "It's time for her therapy session. What happened on that morning…it really messed with her mind."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Naruto said, feeling sad for the ramen chef and his daughter.

"It's okay though." Teuchi said, brightening up some. "Inoichi and Lady Tsunade are really helping her recover."

"That's great." Naruto said, brightening up as well.

"So, what will it be today, Naruto?" Teuchi asked.

"My usual." The blonde replied. Teuchi nodded and got to work.

As Teuchi fixed his meal, Naruto thought about the recent events in the village. "I guess when it rains it pours around here. First there was the attack on the village from the Sound and Sand Villages and now, there's a murderer on the loose."

Before Naruto could get any further in his thoughts, a voice interrupted him. "Are those stools taken?"

"Hmm?" Naruto turned around to see two girls pass through the curtains of the stand. One was a girl with long violet hair, dark brown eyes and dressed in a black spaghetti top, grayish purple camo pants and combat boots. The other girl was a brunette with her hair tied into two buns. Like the first girl, she too had dark brown eyes, but unlike the first girl, she had a leaf headband tied on her forehead. She wore a green Chinese style shirt with gold trim, dark blue pants and ninja sandals. And although Naruto never met either of them, the second girl with the buns in her hair looked familiar.

"The stools. Are they taken?" It was the brunette who asked.

"Huh? Oh, no. No, they're free." Naruto answered. The two girl smiled and each took a stool. The girl with the violet hair on his right and the brunette to his left.

"Uh, I don't mean to sound rude, but have we met?" Naruto asked the brunette. "You look familiar."

Tenten smiled, but she internally sighed._ 'Why are the cute ones always so dim?'_ She thought to herself. "Actually, we have…well sort of. My name's Tenten, Tenten Xiayu. We were in the Chunin Exam together."

"Oh yeah." Naruto said as he brought his fist down into his palm and realization dawned on him. "You're on Bushy Brows' team."

This got a snicker from Kin, who got a look of annoyance from her mistress. Tenten just continued as she smiled at Naruto. "This is my friend, Kinsumi. She goes by Kin for short." Kin waved at Naruto.

"Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage." Naruto proudly proclaimed. Tenten and Kin had to sigh. Having observed the blonde from afar for a time, the two vampires knew of Naruto's obsession with becoming Hokage.

Noticed the looks from the two girls, Naruto decided to give the whole 'I'm gonna be Hokage' thing a rest. "Sorry about that. It's kind of a habit."

"It's okay." Kin said. "It's actually kind of cute." This got a blush from Naruto.

"Thanks. So what brings you two around here?" Naruto asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Oh, we were just out and about and then, we noticed you sitting here, looking a little lonesome. So we decided to join you." Tenten replied. "Oh, by the way. I want to say thanks."

"For what?" Naruto asked.

"For knocking some sense into Neji back at the Chunin Exams. Hell knows Lee and I have been meaning to do it for a while." Tenten answered.

"Oh, not a problem." Naruto said. "So, is he still talking about that fate junk?"

"Not as much." Tenten said.

"That's good." Naruto said. He then turned to 'Kinsumi.' "So Kinsumi, are you a kunoichi too?"

"Uh, no. Tried to be one, but let's just say I…found my calling in life." Kin answered.

The three continued talking until Teuchi brought Naruto his ramen. "So what'll it be, ladies? My treat."

"Oh thank you." Tenten said. "Um, I'll take pork."

"I'll have miso." Kin said.

After the three teens finished their meals, they left the stand. "So, Naruto. Have anything planned later on?" Tenten asked.

"Um, no, not really." Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head. "Why?"

"Well, Kinsumi and I were wondering if you'd like to come to our place for dinner tonight." The brunette replied.

"Really?" Naruto asked, unable to believe his luck. "Alright. I may not have gotten promoted to Chunin, but two hot girls asking me over for dinner is one hell of a consolation prize." The blonde thought.

"Yeah." Kin replied. "You seem like such an interesting person and Tenten and I really want to get to know you better."

"Plus, you paid for our lunch, it's only fair that we make you dinner." Tenten added.

"You two can cook?" Naruto said, looking surprised.

"Of course we can." Tenten said with a slight huff.

"Oh no, I meant no offensive." Naruto said, afraid that he may have accidently insulted the two girls. "It's just that no one's offered to cook for me before, well other than Teuchi and Ayame that is."

Tenten and Kin realized what the blonde was saying. "Oh it's no trouble at all." Tenten replied. "Besides, you did manage to get Neji off his high horse, you brought Lady Tsunade back and she's helping Lee walk again. So as near as I can tell, it's the least that we can do to for you."

"Thanks Tenten. Thanks Kinsumi." Naruto said. "Where do you two live?"

Kin took out a piece of paper and wrote some directions on it. When she was done, she handed it to Naruto. "Six alright?" The presently violet haired girl asked.

"I'll be there." Naruto said. With that, the blonde young man happily walked off, leaving the two Jiang-Shi to watch.

"I take it that it's time to move things along, Mistress?" Kin asked.

"Yes." Tenten said before walking off. "Come on, let's get the stuff for dinner."

Unbeknownst to them, a certain indigo haired Hyuga girl witnessed the interaction between Naruto and the two girls…and suddenly felt a small sense of jealousy that was most uncharacteristic of her.


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR NOTE: I'M HAPPY THAT MY READERS ARE ADDING THIS TO THEIR FOLLOW/FAVORITES LISTS, BUT IT NEEDS MORE REVIEWS.**

**SINCE I'M NOT THE GREATEST AT FIGHT SCENES AND DIDN'T WANT TO OVERPOWER OR UNDERPOWER ANYONE, DUSTIN-THE-GRIMM CO-AUTHORED THIS CHAPTER WITH ME.**

* * *

Tenten smiled at the thought of Naruto coming over to her home later. She did have her plans, lots of plans actually, but that didn't mean she'd outright jump him. She had to bide her time...earn his trust slowly. Erode all the shackles that were holding him back. At the very least, she did have a way to learn about him and have some "fun" too...

A series of knocks at the door caught the two ladies' attention and they grinned. Their guest was here! As Kin altered her features to be the same as they were at the ramen stand earlier via a quick hengen, Tenten opened the door and beamed at the blond-topped lump of orange standing on the other side of her doorway.

Naruto looked around. To say he felt nervous was an understatement. He'd never been invited over to anyone's home before, much less a girl's, and had no idea how to act.

Personally, Tenten actually found it adorable. Grabbing his hand, she laughed a bit as she lead him into her home and shut the door behind them. Leading the haplessly innocent and somewhat socially awkward blond to the kitchen table, she sat him down and stood behind him and started to rub his shoulders as Kin brought in the food and set the table, shooting a murderous look at her mistress for not getting to do that to the blond boy first, Tenten smirked smugly at Kin in response and kept kneading the orange ninja's shoulders. kami...steel beams weren't this tense!

"Naruto relax...me and Kinsumi aren't going to eat you." Tenten said_ 'That's what everyone ELSE in the village is for.'_ she added in thought. That made her think of a technique she knew and started flipping through signs before placing her hands on his shoulders again.

"Jujin: San koi Saru Sogai Kai" Tenten whispered, grinning. The "Curse seal: three wise monkey inhibition release" jutsu...it was always so much fun.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...at least until this jutsu set it free!

To Tenten, it was the best way to genuinely get to know Naruto as a person rather than deal with that huge, cheesy, fake smile of his.

Naruto's body relaxed and eyes glazed over before focusing again as if they hadn't been clouded over at all.

Walking over and joining Kin across from him, Tenten started to break the ice with small talk to see how effective the jutsu was on him...she had just the subject for that , too.

"So Naruto...how're things with your team?" Tenten asked.

Naruto, newly freed from being unwilling to speak his mind, scowled at the question. "What team? Look Tenten, I'll put my feelings for them in a way you'll get: I wish I could swap teams with YOU!"

Tenten winced openly, Naruto would have gladly swapped teams with her? No...that couldn't be. Who would WILLINGLY want be exposed to Gai and Lee on a daily basis? Was team 7 truly THAT bad?

"Ok...why is THAT?!" Tenten asked. Feeling the need for an explanation.

"You really wanna know? And in what order do you wanna hear it in?" the blond asked.

Tenten and Kin both nodded "We do. Go by rank if its easiest." Kin told the male.

Naruto laughed humorlessly and nodded before explaining about what he had against Kakashi.

As Naruto spoke, Tenten felt the urge to dry-heave. The man's lackadaisical sub-standards making her physically ill.

From what Naruto told her with his inhibitions dulled, while Kakashi was one of the top Jonin in the village and more or less it's resident jutsu master and that he had the Sharingan from his former teammate, Uchiha Obito. But other than that, Tenten was deeply unimpressed. She had heard Kakashi was a porn addict who was constantly late to everything (barring the new releases of Icha Icha anyway), but she had never known how damaged the man was. She could see the results plain as day, because he was a sub-par teacher at best. The man had passed them on the barest hint of teamwork. Kakashi had absolutely no idea how to train newly minted genin. All he did was get on their nerves by telling them to work as a team, and yet he never told team seven how, seeing as the academy didn't exactly teach teamwork like they should, even though it was one of the biggest requirements to becoming a genin in the first place, yet he seemed to think that they did.

Kakashi's treatment of Naruto was wrong starting from the bell test. How on earth do you expect a boy who had been ostracized by his own village for simply being alive to just grasp the concept of teamwork at the drop of a hat like that? Naruto never had anyone really looking out for him, especially not his classmates. While the exercise would be understandable for Sasuke (if he weren't such a stuck up prick) as he has been pampered by his village, it made no sense for Kakashi to reasonably expect Naruto to rely on two people who have never been there for him, namely Sasuke and Sakura, to help him. Naruto, despite his outgoing personality, is a loner from the beginning. What kind of idiot was Kakashi not to be able to see that anyway?

Next was the training. Or lack thereof. Listing what Kakashi taught Naruto was easy: Climbing Trees...and that's it. Kakashi regarded Sasuke more highly than Naruto, that much was pitifully obvious; as he watched Neji fight Hinata, he thought that not even Sasuke could stand up to him, as if that emo-bastard set the bar for Genin standards; also when he told Naruto that he couldn't train him, he blatantly said he had more important things to take care of: training Sasuke. How Kakashi abandoned Naruto during the one month break of the Chunin exam is more than a little messed up. Granted that things worked out for the best (with Naruto finding a stronger teacher more willing to train him) Kakashi didn't know that would happen. What exactly was better chakra control going to do to help Naruto defeat a Hyuuga prodigy who had no problem with attempting to murder members of his own family!? He probably planned on Naruto losing, the bastard.

First and foremost, Tenten felt that if you can't train more than one student at once, don't take a three man squad. Secondly, Kakashi knew the Kage Bunshin. Why couldn't he have at least taken two seconds to cross his fingers and made one to instruct Naruto, just crossing his fingers, how hard was THAT for a Jonin of Kakashi's renowned and caliber? Thirdly, and this was the kicker, knowing Kakashi, he'd more than likely have the gall to reprimand Jiraiya for teaching Naruto the Rasengan after he had taught Sasuke the Chidori! Prior to Naruto's arrival, Tenten had ordered her ROOT spy dig through the records on each of the ninja of the village and, through that, had found out that while Kakashi knew the technique all along, he had no plans of teaching the Rasengan to Naruto because he didn't think he could handle it appropriately. What the FUCK did the porn-obsessed scarecrow think Sunshine boy was going to do with the Chidori; use it as a magnetic force to attract an ice cream truck for the Konohamaru corps to have a snack!? Hell no! He actually believed that Sasuke would use it to protect his fellow shinobi of Konoha. Didn't he spend a lot of alone time with Sasuke? You'd think he was a little more observant of the fact that everything Sasuke did was toward killing Itachi...especially since the prick had said that!

Kakashi was and excellent ninja. One of the top jonin in Konohagakure. And a former ANBU captain. But Tenten would be damned if he wasn't a shitty sensei.

Tenten winced when Naruto was finished. All that was actually understandable as to why he'd want to swap teams with her. Even as sanity-challenged as he was, Gai-sensei was nothing like that and treated his students equally. Heck, she'd even overheard Gai's "genius of hard work" pep talk to Lee back when they were first made a team. Kakashi was everything Gai wasn't as far as being an instructor...with Gai being the better one. She made a note to kill Kakashi at some point...or tell Gai his "rival" was that bad a teacher, heck knew the youth-manic of a man would LOVE getting one up on him by hearing he was the better mentor. In the meantime, she had to figure out the best way to slaughter 'Mr. Monkey-see-Monkey-do" for all that.

The idea of Naruto's development being pissed all over even by the one who was supposed to help Naruto learn to stand tall on his own two feet rather than making it so he was forced into riding on the fox's coattails (no pun intended there) if he wanted to be worth something as a ninja...it had Tenten seeing red.

Kin was reacting even worse seeing as she and her "team" had been used as guinea pigs to see the prick's proficiency with the Ten no Juin Orochimaru had placed on him back in the Chunin Exams: The only one anybody even capable pretended to give three hairs off a dead rat's left ass-cheek worth of a damn about was Uchiha Sasuke!

The pair of jiang-Shi shared a glance and made a note to "visit" Kakashi during tonight's feeding...not for a meal, but to remove some useless dead weight.

Tenten sighed and took Naruto's hand, noting the calluses that were from wielding ninja tools like kunai knives, and looking into his eyes, feeling truly sorry for him due to the village's obsession with fucking him over sideways. And the Yondaime thought the people of this place were worth saving and dying for? YEAH RIGHT!

"Naruto...I'm sorry to hear that. Kakashi's horrible as a mentor to you." the brunette said.

Naruto rolled his eyes,"Save it...I don't need or want your pity. It won't do me a damn thing. That's not to say I don't appreciate it, but I've found that you can either piss and moan feeling sorry for yourself OR you can get up and actually do things to improve the situation. That's why I don't accept pity. Besides...as bad as he is, Kakashi's the most torrarable of my team." the blond said, not knowing he was saying what he honestly thought about his team with his inhibitions removed.

The two females cringed at that. recalling when Tenten had used the "body is a temple" metaphor to describe why Sakura wasn't worth feeding off of...trash indeed.

"Ok...I for one think that's enough of that topic." Kin said. If Kakashi was that bad, she didn't want to know what made Sasuke and Sakura worse.

Naruto and Tenten nodded before what sounded like a temple bell sounded loudly enough to be heard by the whole village.

"Oh man! It's time already?! Damn curfew!" Tenten said, knowing the village was still on lock-down. Of course, keeping Naruto occupied until the curfew was intentional so he couldn't leave. But he didn't need to know about that. She shot Naruto a convincingly apologetic look,"sorry Naruto...didn't mean to keep you here for so long."

He shrugged "So? there's a killer running loose still, remember? It was probably for the best that you did."

The girls smiled, though not for the reason Naruto thought that they did. Of course the two kunoichi were aware the killer...or rather, killers...was still at large.

"You're ok with stay the night with a pair of girls, huh?" Tenten said coyly. Naruto blushed and turned away. Kin and Tenten laughed.

"Come on...I'll show you to a spare bedroom. Can't go against martial law." Tenten smiled.

Naruto stood up and followed the weapon-user as she lead him through her house and Tenten smiled as she opened one of the bedroom doors "This one is for you." she said with a bright smile.

Nodding his thanks, Naruto entered the room and sat on the bed before he looked at a book that was set on the nightstand and noticed it had an odd title:

THE GUIDE TO JIANG SHI.

Curious, Naruto picked up the book and started to skim it a bit. Reading wasn't really his thing, but this could be interesting.

_"The Chinese have long spoken of horrific, once-human creatures that come out of their graves at night to feed on the qi or lifeforce of their victims. These undead beings are a curious blend of the vampire and the zombie, in that it possesses traits belonging to both creatures, and yet it is neither one. It is known as the Jiangshi, the "Hopping Corpse" of Asia._

_The Jian gshi appears all over China (but is also known throughout Asia), and is thus known by many names. These include: Chiang-Shih, Kiang-Shi, Kuangshi, Chinese Vampire, Hsi-Hsue-Kuei ("Suck-Blood Demon"), Kyonshi (Japan), Ch'ing Shih, Ch'iang-shih, Giang Shi, Kiang-Kouei, Kuang-shi, Kouei, Pinyin, Xianh-shi, Xi Xie Gui, and "the Hopping Vampire of Asia". The word jiang shi (pronounced "jong-shee") itself comes from the Mandarin Chinese language, meaning "stiff corpse."_

_The Jiang shi hails from China, where it haunts graveyards, ancient tombs, and places of death. It is often said to live underground, where it may slumber during the day and avoid the sunlight until it rises at dusk to feed._

_The Jiang shi is a Vampire through and through (although more recently, some folklorists have begun to classify the Jiang shi as a type of zombie or ghoul), and takes great relish in ripping its prey limb from limb before feeding on the gushing blood. According to legends from before the westernization of China, however, the Jiang shi feeds not on blood, but on the victim's qi (the energies that flow through the human body). Some accounts tell of the Jiang shi feeding on human flesh as well._

_Opinions differ on what the Jiang shi actually looks like. However, most folklorists seem to agree that, most of the time, the creature looks quite human, even from a distance. The revenant uses this advantage to draw its prey close enough for an attack. However, according to Chinese folklore, there are rarer, more powerful species of the Jiang shi. One is described as a ball of flickering light. The other, however, is a tall, gaunt walking corpse with pale green-white skin or is covered in wild white or green hair. This creature has razor-sharp serrated teeth, long talons, flaring red eyes, and breath so foul that it can kill just by exhaling in an unfortunate victim's face. Other stories describe the creature as having bulging eyes and long tongues that hang loosely from the monster's mouth. On a more bizarre note, the Jiang shi is always found to be clad in Qing Dynasty burial garments. However, there is a very unique aspect to this vampire. Due to the fact that the Jiang shi is a decaying cadaver, it has an extremely difficult time walking due to the pain and stiffness of rigor mortis, so the creature is forced to hop along instead. This may both look and sound hilarious to one that is unfamiliar with the vampire, but this revenant is no laughing matter._

_The Jiang shi is an insanely violent creature, driven solely by its hunger for blood and heedless of the consequences that its attacks may lead to. The reason for its madness is that the Jiang shi epitomizes the irrational aspects of the human soul. This makes the vampire vicious and sadistic, and the Jiang shi thoroughly enjoys tearing its prey apart before feeding on the spurting blood._

_The Jiang shi has been known to sexually assault women, favoring virgins or nuns, as the resulting despair of being raped by this aberrant undead monstrosity is pure ecstasy to the Jiang shi. Usually, the creature will kill the women afterwards. The revenant attacks using its long claws and teeth, biting the victim on the neck and draining them of blood in a matter of minutes. Other times, the creature will strangle their prey. The Jiang shi's thirst for human blood is unending, no matter how many victims the creature has claimed that night._

_Unusually, the bloodsucking aspect of the Jiang shi is not a part of the original Chinese folklore. In the original folktales, the Jiang shi is portrayed as hungering for the lifeforce of its victims (the victim's qior Spiritus Vitae, or "Breath of Life"). But regardless, the creature must still tear the body of its victims apart in order to consume the ebbing life from the corpse._

_The evil spirit that inhabits the Jiang shi's body gives the vampire many unnatural powers. The Jiang shi has supernatural strength and speed. It tears its victims apart with relish, and the creature is impossible to escape from on foot. The Jiang shi's breath reeks of coagulated blood and decay, and the creature's breath itself is so rank that the mere scent of it is lethal. It is also a shapeshifter, able to take on the form of a wolf at will. Apparently, rigor mortis doesn't affect the creature in this form._

_While the Jiang shi is blind, this does not seem to impede the creature very much. It has an unnatural sense of smell, and tracks its prey by the smell of their breath (so, the only way to evade a Jiang shi is hold one's breath for short time). Obviously, one cannot hold his breath for very long before the creature smells them._

_As is the case with some folkloric Vampires, the longer the Jiang shi is in existence, the more powerful the revenant becomes. Eventually, the rigor mortis wears off, granting the creature far more freedom of movement. According to some legends, the creature's measure of intelligence and evil greatly increase as well. Most folktales and legends say that, when the Jiang shi's hair is long and entirely white, the Vampire is considered to be fully developed and at its most powerful The creature is able to leap great distances with an enormous amount of force. In some cases, the revenant even learns to levitate and fly. With this increase in power, the Jiang shi becomes far more dangerous to the living. In addition to these abilities, the Jiang shi is said to possess gale-force breath and very long eyebrows that can be used to capture and bind its victims. The Jiang shi also possesses incredibly long and sharp sword-like talons that are extremely deadly. Undoubtedly these claw-like nails are clotted with blood and dirt, and may be capable of infecting the victim with disease (that is, if it doesn't kill them). In some instances, the creature is said to be able to kill with a single touch. There are legends of the creature actually missing its victim and burying its talons so deeply into a tree trunk that it couldn't pull free, and was trapped. Upon the dawn, the creature reverted to an inanimate corpse._

_Fortunately, the Jiang shi has several weaknesses and limitations to its abilities. The revenant fears sunlight (which can destroy it), has an intense aversion to garlic, is very afraid of eight-sided Taoist mirrors, cannot cross running water, and is said to fear fresh chicken blood as well. The creature has poor eyesight, and relies on its senses of smell and hearing while hunting. If a victim holds his breath, the Jiang shi cannot sense them and hops right past a potential meal. Sadly, there are few who can hold their breath long enough to elude this creature. As with many other vampires, the Jiang shi is compelled to stop and count tiny objects (known as arithmomania). Scattering long-grained rice, seeds, dried peas, or even tiny iron pellets will ensure that the revenant doesn't stray too far from its grave. If the Jiang shi is still occupied with this task at dawn, the morning rays of the sun will destroy it. A circle on the ground made of iron filings, red peas, or rice can trap the creature. In some legends, the Jiang shi is able to be literally swept away with a common household straw broom._

_One method of controlling the Jiang shi, used by Taoist priests, is to prepare special charms. Powerful spells or death blessings are inscribed on small pieces of yellow paper (which may also be made of red and yellow paper), using chicken blood instead of ink. Then, the charm must be affixed to the revenant's forehead, which is far easier said than done. But if the priest is successful, the Jiang shi is instantly immobilized and completely helpless. Of course, every now and then, the slip of paper falls off, with catastrophic results. The paper charms, however, are said to only work on adolescent Jiang shi. A fully-developed adult must be dealt with in a different, much more dangerous way. The creature should be captured and buried in a grave in the burial grounds of the ancient ancestors, using Buddhist or Taoist magic to bind the Jiang shi to its new gravesite. Again, this is much easier to say than to actually do it._

_While the Jiang shi is very much afraid of thunder, garlic, and loud noises, the only being that the creature truly fears is the White Emperor, to whose court the Vampire must pay homage._

_Despite the creature's inherent savagery, there are a few ways to kill this revenant. As mentioned earlier, sunlight is lethal to the Jiangshi, and fire is able to ensure that the creature never arises again. Decapitating the revenant will work as well. According to legend, lightning is fatal to the Jiangshi, but is extremely difficult to arrange (obviously). Interestingly, it is said that upon its evolution to its stronger, green-haired form, the Jiangshi can only be killed by a bullet or lightning (or alternatively, the sound of a bullet being fired or a thunderclap). To avoid the possibility of the creature's resurrection, the body must be cremated immediately after it is slain._

_It is highly unlikely that silver, holy symbols, stakes, or blessed weapons will have any detrimental effects on the Jiang shi, as the creature was created in a Buddist or Taoist culture...However, folklore dictates that monks and heroes used the martial discipline known as kung-fu to fight the revenant. However, kung-fu is an extremely difficult discipline to master, taking years to gain proficiency and even longer to become an expert. Nonetheless, kung-fu seems to be a viable option against the Jiang shi. Legends have spoken of weapons that are able to inflict great harm upon the Jiangshi, and are used by monks to do so. One of these is the peachwood sword, a sword carved from the wood of the Peach Tree. It is used by Feng Shui masters to exorcise demons, dispel malevolent energies, drive away ghosts, and to inflict physical harm upon the Jiang shi. It is mentioned in the Jingchu Suishi Ji that "Peach is the essence of the Five Elements. It can subjugate evil auras and deter ghosts." Another such weapon is the coin sword. This is made by combining copper coins and red thread, with the thread being used to bind the coins into the shape of a sword. The Chinese people believed that, if the sword was made of one hundred and eight individual coins and prayed over by a Taoist priest, it can be used to drive away evil, as well as destroy ghosts and to inflict grievous wounds upon the Jiang shi._

_Another unusual household item that was often employed against the Jiang shi is the straw broom. Apparently, this cleaning utensil could be used to literally sweep the creature back into its grave. One could also use the broom to sweep seeds or grain back towards the revenant's grave, and the Jiang shi will undoubtedly follow because of its compulsion to continue counting._

_The Jiang shi is a curious creature that is the reanimated corpse of an individual whose soul could not ascend to Heaven for whatever reason, usually due to the manner in which the person died. Those who committed suicide and people who were executed as criminals were considered to be at very high risk of becoming a Jiang shi. When a cat jumps over the corpse or a person has been previously cursed during their lifetime to never rest after death, becoming a Hopping Vampire is the most likely result._

_Recent studies show that some of the earliest vampire tales originated in the Far East, in China. The ancient Chinese spoke in hushed whispers of the Jiang shi, a vampiric form of the Undead whose legs were so stiff with rigor mortis that, instead of running after its victims, the creature hops after them instead, intent on draining every last drop of blood from the unfortunate victim's body. To children, this creature was nothing more than the local form of the bogeyman. However, their parents knew better._

_Apparently, the Jiang shi's origins lie with the Chinese Taoist religion. The idea of this creature comes from an ancient Chinese story, "The Corpses Who Travel a Thousand Miles." In this tale, wizards use their sorcery to enchant corpses and enable them to hop, so that they can make the long journey home for a proper burial. It is this story from which arose the belief that, if a person died far away from home, the Taoist priests could reanimate the corpse. Then, the corpse could hop back to their village, where the corpse would "die" once again and would be able to receive a proper funeral and burial rites. However, every now and then, one of these reanimated corpses would become lost on its way home, and the concept of being unable to find eternal rest eventually drove the reanimated corpse insane, resulting in the creature known as the Jiang shi. It would then proceed to take its revenge by slaughtering any travelers it came upon, draining them of their blood and leaving the grisly, dismembered corpse to be found by another the next day._

_It has been speculated that perhaps thieves invented the legend of the Jiang shi, in order to scare off curious locals and law enforcements so that they could continue their smuggling operations in relative peace. On the other hand, what if smugglers didn't fabricate this story? Even if such is the case, the thieves would have readily taken advantage of the tale. They would have even dressed the part, using hideous costumes to frighten away any people who got too close to their operations. But...what if the Jiang shi isn't a myth at all, but a frightening reality?_

_So, how does one become a hopping vampire? According to legend, one had to die violently. This could've happened through murder, hanging, suicide, drowning, or dying during the commission of a crime. According to Taoist metaphysical beliefs, the body houses two different souls. One was the hun, a rational and very powerful soul. The other, the p'ai or p'o, was thought to inhabit the body at birth and then again at death. Usually, both souls depart from the body following the individual's death, but occasionally the p'o doesn't want to leave the body, creating an aberrant undead monster, the Jiang shi. If a cat were to jump over the corpse, it might accidentally "shock" the yin residing within the body. It was also believed that the cat's hairs could become snagged on the soul, effectively stealing the soul of the deceased. This Vampire is insanely violent, driven only by its own instinctive hunger for human blood, ignoring any consequences that may result._

_But why is the Jiang shi such a strange creature? It is because it possesses traits of both the Vampire and the modern-day Zombie, and yet it is neither. But it has more in common with the Zombie or the Ghoul than anything else. Once initial reanimation has taken occurred, the creature seems to retain little or none of its human intelligence. Although the Jiang shi does become more powerful and smarter the longer it lives, it otherwise seems to possess only a degree of animalistic cunning. Even so, all that this creature feels is the unending need to feed on the lifeforce of living humans."_

Naruto re-read the book a few times after his initial skimming that he'd just read, going through the whole thing. He could see why Tenten would have a book about such an interesting creature. And Naruto wasn't one to ignore folklore either. Having a giant kitsuine sealed within their bodies tended to make one question the if such things were fictional. He made a mental note to ask Tenten where he could buy a copy of this "Guide to Jiang Shi" book for himself.

He set the book back down and then laid down in the bed, going to sleep.

* * *

Amused at Naruto's enjoyment of the book she had left him as well as the intentional irony as far as the subject matter of its contents as she peeked through a crack in the door, Tenten spun on her heel and look at Kin standing behind her.

"Out like a light. Keep him here as long as possible. And remember Kin..._I_ get him first." she said.

Kin nodded, but shot her mistress a displeased look at having to wait her turn.

"I'll leave the three wise monkey inhibition release active...see how long it'll take things to hit rock-bottom with just about everyone else in this village and drive him into our arms for comfort." Tenten laughed.

Kin smiled and licked her lips at the idea, her mistress was indeed a cleaver manipulator.

"And what about you, Mistress?" Kin asked.

"Think I'll show why the Scarecrow needed a brain, my sweet Kin." Tenten said, transforming into her panda-masked ANBU disguise.

Kin outright scowled at that "And I don't get to help kill him?"

Tenten sighed and tussled the top of her good servant's head "I know you want to help see to Kakashi's just punishment, I know. But Naruto's a tricky one and needs to be watched...especially if that inhibition release gets stronger and he ends up overly paranoid and tries making a brake for it. When I get back, we'll go out to eat, then we can have some...dessert..." the more powerful of the two said, eyeing the door to Naruto's room and licking her lips at the last part.

Kin smiled "Well...all right...but I do have a very bad sweet tooth problem."

Tenten laughed "Good girl."

With that, the Jiang Shi left her home and took to the rooftops, heading for Kakashi Hatake's place of residence to check there first.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone in silence. For the last hour he'd been staring at the stone. His mind on the murders and how it would effect his students. His students always reminded him of his own team under the Yondaime. Naruto had reminded him of Obito with his cheerful outlook and determination, Sakura of Rin always trying to play peacekeeper, and Sasuke of himself, the aloof genius.

"I should have figured I'd find you here." a voice behind him said.

Turning towards the voice Kakashi single exposed eye widened as he saw an ANBU operative said, walking up behind him.

"Shouldn't you be searching for that killer?" he asked.

Tenten put her hands on her hips "Shouldn't you, Kakashi-san?" she asked, walking up to stand next to him.

"True...I'll get right on that..." he said before whipping a kunai out of his sleeve with a quick slight of hand and slashed at the young kunoichi next to him. Tenten backspringed backwards a few feet and looked at Kakashi, who stood in a ready stance as he pulled his headband up.

"I was an ANBU commander myself, so they call me "Kakashi-senpai"," the man explained, lifting up his headband and glaring with his narrowed, mismatched eyes while pointing the kunai at her "you're an imposter, and I'm guessing that murderer that's been roaming around recently!"

Tenten clapped a slow, mocking applause "Bravo, bravo, very clever, what brilliant deduction skills...of course, you won't be able to actually tell anyone that information." she said, grinning as she dispelled her ANBU guise, in it's place, Tenten adopted the form of a tall young woman in the late teens with waist-length black hair with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of her face, a short nose, and cyan eyes wearing a purple dudou on her chest supported with eight straps that met on her back, forming a spider pattern. A pair long, baggy, off-white colored trousers and purple tights, and long, fingerless gloves and tae kwon do foot wraps on her bare feet.

"Won't I?" Kakashi asked.

Tenten laughed, "Of course not...you'll be much too busy struggling for your life for any such thing." Tenten said with a wicked smile.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Kakashi said, assuming a battle stance. Tenten assumed a stance of her own, with one foot on the ground and the other raised up.

"You look like you're in good shape Kakashi." Tenten mocked, her voice more sultry in her new form. "You'll need to be against me."

After a long tense moment, Kakashi launched several shuriken at his opponent, who in turn rolled to the side and avoided them effortlessly and darted towards the Sharingan user.

Leaping away, Kakashi started making handsigns for an offensive jutsu, but Tenten was not about to have any of that.

While in mid-air, Tenten assaulted the Jonin with a flurry of kicks. Kakashi managed to block them, but damn, even blocking them hurt. Each kick felt like Kakashi was getting hit by a steel construction beam. Whoever this girl was, she was powerful, perhaps on par with Tsunade. The cycloptic jonin also noticed waves of purple energy that followed each kick, meaning that the kick were more than likely chakra enhanced.

After the short but intense exchange, Kakashi and the killer landed on the ground twenty feet apart. "Well you certainly live up to your reputation Kakashi. I almost feel bad about having to do away with such a durable punching bag…almost." Tenten said.

Quickly shaking his arms and hands to get the numbness to go away, Kakashi drew a Kunai from his pouch.

Tenten let out a maniacal sounding laugh. "This is a joke right? You think a mere kunai's gonna help you against me? Especially when I can do THIS!" With that, Tenten did what appeared to be a buzzsaw kick, but as she did so, several kunai flew out of her pant leg and flew towards Kakashi like missiles.

"What the?!" Kakashi barely avoided the kunai barrage by jumped to the side, but suddenly, the cycloptic jonin felt one of his arms snagged by something. The light of the moon revealed that his arm was wrapped in thin ninja wire.

"Going somewhere Kakashi?" Tenten said, the wore connected to her fingers like a spider's web. "Why don't you come a little closer?" With that, Tenten pulled the wire, and thus pulled Kakashi towards her like a rag doll. As Kakashi flew towards her, Tenten jumped at him and once again attacked with a flurry of kicks. This time however, Kakashi was not so lucky in blocking them. His training was the only thing that saved him from having his bones shattered.

With an axe-like kick, Tenten sent Kakashi crashing to the ground. Even in the dark, it was possible to see his mask turning red around the mouth area, more than likely from coughing up blood.

"Tell me Kakashi, does it hurt?" Tenten said, standing over the injured jonin. All Tenten received were a couple of coughs. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that. Maybe I should repeat my question." Before she did, Tenten stomped Kakashi several times. "I said DOES IT HURT?! Because it should. The pain I've inflicted on you so far is nothing compared to what he's endured."

"He?" Kakashi asked, coughing some more and wondering what the strange girl was talking about.

"Oh? You don't know? Not surprising Kakashi, considering you and a good majority of the cattle that inhabits this village are so far up the Uchiha's ass." Tenten snarled as she soccer kicked Kakashi in the ribs. She was rewarded with the sweet sound and feeling of ribs cracking.

"Who are you?" Kakashi said, despite the pain he was in.

Tenten gave him an evil smirk. "I suppose you could say that I'm living karma. After all, karma's a bitch and so am I. But since you're literally dying to know, I suppose there's no harm in telling you." Tenten bent down and effortlessly picked Kakashi up by the throat with one hand and brought him up to her face. As she did so, her face got blurry and started to change. The skin tanned slightly, the eyes changed from cyan to chocolate brown and her facial features shifted until she resembled.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he was face to face with Tenten Xiayu from Might Guy's team.

Before Kakashi could say anything, Tenten's face shifted back to the face of the girl he had been facing. He then felt her squeezing his neck tightly. "Well now that you know who I am, I can't have you telling the world, now can I?"

Kakashi tried to escape Tenten's grip, but it was not to be. She had a vice-grip on his neck.

"It's funny Kakashi, this all could have been avoided if you just paid more attention to him." Tenten said as she used her other hand to grip the jonin's neck. "But don't worry, he'll be in very _good_ hands. Namely _**MINE**_!"

A sickening snap later, Kakashi Hatake was no more.

Pulling out a storage scroll, Tenten sealed the corpse, reminding herself to feed her children later. She then walked over to the Memorial Stone. With a chakra enhanced kick, the young Jiang-shi shattered the stone. "Soon, this miserable village and then the world will share the same fate." With that, Tenten vanished into the night, but as she did, the sound of evil insane laughter echoed in the air. It was the kind of laughter that promised no mercy what so ever and it also promised that the worst had yet to come.


End file.
